[CaptSammy]

Is it uncommon to set five packages and none of the queens stick around?

April 28th I set them, five 2 pound packages. May 2nd I checked and all were released. I checked today and I see no signs of eggs, brood or queen?

Bad luck?

 

[Vance G]

Stay out of those hives for at least a week and then check again. Sometimes it takes two weeks for that caged queen to get back in the egg laying business. Looking for her is just disrupting the hive and sometimes leads to the bees balling her and killing her.

 

[JRG13]

I always ask this question, can you see eggs, i.e..... not so much that you can actually see them, but know there's eggs there when you're looking right at them.

 

[drlonzo]

Is it uncommon to set five packages and none of the queens stick around?

April 28th I set them, five 2 pound packages. May 2nd I checked and all were released. I checked today and I see no signs of eggs, brood or queen?

Bad luck?

Vance G has very good advice. It can take up to two weeks to get a queen up and going again after they have been caged up for a few days.

ALWAYS pull your queen cages if you didn't direct release within a few days of installation. Then wait at least 9 or 10 days after that before getting into the hive. That way you should be able to see some progress of some kind.

JRG13 has another point. Eggs are very tiny. If you are looking for eggs against newly drawn wax it is nearly impossible to see them. This is another reason to stay out of the hive for a while at first so that you can see capped brood or larger milk brood in the combs.

 

[David LaFerney]

It's too soon to worry.

 

[Beeonefarms]

Listen to David.. In 96 hours you may just be suprised

 

[CaptSammy]

I called the guy (FatBeeMan) that I got the bees from, he recommended the same, and that light at my back might help. This morning I gave it a try and indeed found the tiny eggs. Chalk another dumb question up to nervous Nellie first year beekeeper. It is really hard to see eggs in these white combs.

I will be out of town all of next week, which will force me to let them be.

On the bright side I did note that the industrious bees had pulled comb beautifully on all but one frame in all but two of the five hives, and had filled most to the brim with nectar. I added a super and checkerboarded to give them room as she had very little room to lay an egg even if she wanted to. Here in Atlanta they are pulling in lots of nectar and pollen. I also pulled the feeders. Half the frames were foundationless and the other starter strips, and they still built it all out in a week in my 8 frame mediums. Another thing Don suggested was watching for Pollen being collected, that that is a good indicator that eggs are forthcoming.

Thanks for the replies and patience.