Day 10: From Calamity to Coronation: A Two-Queen Victory Lap!

Wow. What an absolute rollercoaster of a day in the bee yard! I didn't get a chance to head out to the hives until later this evening, and I went out with one simple mission: check on The Chalet to see if the queen had finally escaped her cage. I had no idea I was walking into a high-stakes rescue mission and a royal birth all in the span of an hour.

👑 The Chalet: The Great Escape (and a Mini Heart Attack)

It has been three days since I MacGyvered the queen cage by turning it sideways and poking a hole in the candy. When I pulled the cage today, I was shocked to find Her Majesty still trapped inside. Deciding they'd waited long enough, I took matters into my own hands and pulled the manual plug to let her walk out.

Then, disaster struck. I accidentally dropped the cage right into the bottom of the hive!

In a panic, I had to quickly pull two frames out just to fish the cage off the bottom board. When I finally brought it up... it was empty. She was gone. I frantically searched every single frame covered in bees, but she was nowhere to be found. I was completely disheartened, convinced she had flown off into the oblivion and I had lost her for good.

I put the lid back on, walked around the yard to clear my head, and mulled things over. I decided to check just one last time. And thank goodness I did! There she was, tucked away at the very end of the hive on a completely empty outside frame, safely surrounded by her new "Ladies-in-Waiting" (LIW). The colony had completely accepted her! I gently popped that frame out, slid it right next to the main cluster so they could stay tightly knit, and closed the lid. She is safe, sound, and officially reigning over The Chalet.

🛡️ The Sentry: The Coronation of a Homegrown Queen

If the heart attack at The Chalet wasn't enough, I headed over to The Sentry for a quick peek. If you remember, The Sentry was a split that had raised a massive emergency queen cell on the side of one of the frames.

I very gently slid the frames apart. The mood in the hive was incredibly calm. As softly as I could, I lifted the frame just enough to peek at the bottom of that peanut-shaped queen cell. There was a huge, clean hole chewed right out of the bottom! A clean hole at the tip means she successfully emerged on her own terms. Combined with how wonderfully calm the worker bees were acting, I have a feeling I now have a brand-new, homegrown queen running The Sentry!

🧠 Moral of the Day

Moral of the Day: Take a deep breath and trust the bees. When things seem like an absolute calamity—like dropping a queen into the abyss—nature usually has a plan. Walking away to clear your head is often the best tool in a beekeeper's toolkit.