[ryandebny]

I just got my first hive and installed the package bees and queen 3 weeks ago. The weather has been rainy and cool but never freezing.
I opened up the hive today and found a few frames being built up with comb and honey. I didn't see any brood or eggs.
Have I lost my queen?
Do they lay eggs in the honey?

 

[AR Beekeeper]

After 3 weeks I would have expected to see young uncapped larvae. The queen lays eggs in clean prepared cells, never in honey. Have you been feeding sugar syrup to the colony? How many foundations have the bees drawn out into comb?

Eggs stand on end in the end of the cells and can be hard to see in new wax but open larvae in a pool of royal jelly should be easy to see. If you got a package of bees with a virgin queen she may not have mated due to your poor weather. Look for a beekeepers association in your area and maybe a beekeeper will look at your hive and give you some advice.

 

[victory1504]

Ryan, I'm returning to beek after a 23 year absence. WOW ! I never needed glasses before ! I can't see the eggs without my glasses. They are hard to see in new white comb. Chances are good they are there. Look in the empty cells in the very ( lower ) middle of the middle combs. Great advice from the others.

 

[ronnyclif]

I would expect to see eggs, larva, and capped brood at this point. I would stop feeding syrup and put a frame of brood with eggs in it so they can raise a new queen. They may have killed the caged queen. With no eggs your bees will be dead in 63 days if you do nothing. I do not feed queenless hives because the bees will fill every hole with syrup and your queen will have no where to lay when it is queenright. I always like to check the centermost frames for eggs as this is generally where you find them.

 

[beekeeper1756]

Queens only lay eggs in clean cells, never honey. That being said, if you can't see the eggs (they are white in color and about the size of this comma , " look for various sizes of larva. Larva look like curled up letter "C"s in a pool of royal jelly. Look for the really, really small larva.

Another question, how is the attitude of the hive when you pop the top to take a look? Are they buzzing alot, very nervous and anxious or are they calm, just moving about their own business? Queenless hives are noisy, almost a roar and they are edgy - the total opposite of a queenright hive.

Have the bees made any queen cells in your hive?