Queen Cage Is Empty

Tonight, I went to check on the hive and noticed the bees were going through the syrup pretty quickly.  Maybe its the rainy weather, so they dont go out and forage as much?  Or maybe there just isnt enough nectar yet. I made up another jar of syrup and got all beekeepered up and went out into the hive.  While replacing the syrup jar, I spilled some of the syrup.  I need to remember to spill outside of the hive next time, because after that, syrup was dripping from the bottom, but I couldnt tell if it was what I spilled, or if the seal on the jar was leaking.  It slowed down over time, so I think its fine.

While I had the hive opened, I retrieved the queen cage.  It was empty!  Dont worry, thats good news!  It means the bees ate through the marshmallow cork I put in and released the queen.  Looking at the massive number of bees in the hive, I suspect the only time I will see the queen was when she was in the cage.  I'm not nearly good enough to identify her in the hive.  So instead, I have to look for evidence she's there.  If there is capped honeycomb that's not golden, its called brood, which is where the eggs are.  Capped brood is a sign the queen is in the hive.  And thats good.  I could tell the bees were building honeycomb.  Its a very clean white right now.  They build it down from the roof.  The ones I saw were empty, but its not time to worry yet.  I'm sure Magnolia is busy in there somewhere.

Here is a picture of the empty queen cage.

On the left side, you can see where the cork was.  On the right side is the hanger that held it in a slot in the package.  I put a quarter in the picture so you can see how big it is.