Hi,
I am just starting out with a single TBH and received my package of bees yesterday. When I took the queen cage out, it was broken. Looked to me like the staples that attached the hanging strap fractured the wood and opened a big gap around the end, enough that there were workers jammed up inside the cage. Of course my first fear is without enough time to accept the new queen, they killed her. I took the screen off the cage and moved bees away thinking I'd find her there, but no. At this point, I had to assume she was down in the box dead or alive. There was certainly a queen in there somewhere as they were all clustered around the cage before removal. I decided the only thing to do was hive them and hope for the best. Once I got them in, some workers were sending out the "queen is in here" signal with their abdomens up and fanning their wings. I figured this could happen even if she was dead, just the smell would produce the behavior. Now I have a situation making queen status determination difficult. Spotting her visually on the bottom of the hive right now would require opening the whole thing. Not something I'm crazy about, but it might be the best option. I can wait for them to build some comb and look for her on the comb or for eggs in about a week, but the time gap between determining they are queenless and getting a replacement may be too great. I'll probably contact the vendor tomorrow and explain. I'd hope they would send me a new queen.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!