I checked the hives at an outyard today. I gave them some syrup last week but left the remaining candy & the 2" spacers. 3 of the hives had 5 & 6 frames of brood & quite a few drones. 1 hive built a lot of comb in the 2" space between the frames & inner covers. I shook the bees off the comb & put the remaining candy & comb in a 1 gallon bucket. because there was brood in the comb I looked it over in case the queen was on it. thru everything the back of the truck & headed home. 1 1/2 hours later I started a pot of syrup on the hot plate & started putting the candy in the pot. then came the OH SHOOT moment!!! crawling up the side of the bucket & wet with syrup I spot the queen!!!! I do not know how she survived without being crushed or blown out the back or chilled to death. I grabbed her with a queen clip. put her in a battery box & raced back to the yard. I put the spacer back on the hive & put her clip & all on top of the frames. my thinking is that the workers can tend to her in the clip & if she croaks i'll know where she is. i'll check her Friday morning as i'm tied up tomorrow. this just goes to show how easy it is to overlook a queen. I looked that comb over after shaking off the bees & missed her. I hope she survives. this hive had 5 frames of brood.
