>I went through both hives. It bothers me that my girls got (get) so upset. Should I go in more often so they get use to me?
Bees do not get used to you. They get tired of you. I would go into them less often. Are you using smoke? They will get a lot less tired of you if you use smoke appropriately (not to hot or too much).
http://www.bushfarms.com/beessmoke.htmIt's also getting into fall when they tend to be more defensive. There is very seldom a point in looking for a queen--always keep an eye out of course, but don't go through the whole hive looking.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenspotting.htm#needThe only think you need to know is if you have eggs, open brood and capped brood. If you have eggs you had a queen at least four days ago and probably have one now. If you have open brood you had a queen 12 days ago and probably have one now. If you have capped brood you had a queen 13 days ago and probably have one now. If you can't see eggs, then get a good camera and take pictures of the frames. Get them in focus. Aim straight down into the cells.
>Again I found no queens. I saw in both hives what might be eggs. darn net! I can't see well as it is. So no signs of a laying queen. Most of the queen cells are gone but one open that I could not see anything in it. Depressing.
An open cell with nothing in it is nothing. It is not a queen cell. You can call it a queen cup if you need to give it a name. I would just call it nothing, since that is what it means...
If you did a split on the 25th of Aug I would not expect a laying queen before 22 days later which would be the day after tomorrow (16th) and it may be 9 days from now (23rd).
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmath.htmA frame of eggs and open brood is the best insurance.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beespanacea.htm