Hey WM. Please take the following with a grain of salt and wait for others to chime in. Your situation reminds me of when we first started beekeeping and were reading everything we could to get going. All of the beginners books we read spent a great deal of time, usually the last half or more of the book, explaining the "potential problems" bees could encounter, foul brood, chalk brood, nosema, varroa, tracheal mites, etc.. After reading of all these frightening possibilities I came to think that the poor bees would fall down dead at the first opportunity. What I didn't understand, and was told later, is that the books listed ALL the possible things that COULD go wrong and not necessarily what WOULD go wrong. My understanding is that yes, bees will do whatever they can to raise a queen, use larva that is too old, etc. and I've seen them try to make a queen out of a drone before (they were desperate). However, given what they need to make a good queen, they will always choose the best option. The word ALWAYS makes me cringe, but that's my understanding. Given a choice they will raise a good queen. Maybe take a step back and breath brother, breath.? If they have or had what they need they SHOULD be okay. One thing I would recommend, if I may, is don't rush them. Leave them be long enough for the queen to emerge, mate, and start laying. then, give them another week. We made the mistake of rushing to "make sure everything was okay" and did more damage than if we'd have left them alone. I understand that feeling of impending doom and wondering, worrying, about what all could go wrong. Maybe sometimes we just have to trust. As I said, I may be WAY off base so wait for others to verify your next step. Sending positive waves, Ted
