I HAVE A QUEEN! YAY!
So the dead queen laying here on my desk got superseded and I was just "lucky" enough to see her laying on the front porch yesterday afternoon. The bees would have been better off if they had hidden the carcass from me. ;)
Iddee, I just couldn't stand to wait for four days so the wind was calm, the sun was out, I had 60 degrees and took the plunge. She was on the next to last frame on the far side of the bottom box. I am unhappy that I forgot to bring my marking pen, but it's just as well.
Now the question I have is whether I mark her with a blue pen or a white one. :) I'm thinking blue because I haven't seen any drones flying yet and therefore assuming that the two queens coexisted during the winter. I would love to get opinions from you experts though.
Also, I noticed her coloring was quite a bit different than her mom and the other Italian queen bees that I have. Her tan parts seemed to be a bit darker and she has very well-defined black stripes on her abdomen. Any thoughts about this are welcome too.
Thanks everyone! Love this forum!!!