Also given how short the book was, there were many plot points brought up in the book that I would have loved to get more detail on, and I think the author has a lot of potential to expand upon this world if possible. It’s very cozy, and makes me want to curl up with a white chocolate latte (with a flavor other than lavender) and read for a while. I loved Sage, and it was so fun seeing my current favorite coffee in a book because it's not super common. It seemed a little too easy for everyone to like Sage, but I did appreciate that Finn remained grumpy for at least 35% of the book. Our main goal was to provide a place for the bees to live, let them pollinate our flower and vegetable garden, and just take pleasure in watching them do their thing.

When a hive becomes overfull, the queen doesn’t have enough room to continue to lay eggs and produce brood, and a swarm is more likely to occur. At this stage, the hive consisted of eight frames in a deep box, with an empty box on top so I could put a couple of feeders inside. Suppose I correct the problem by adding an empty super, but I separate it by a queen excluder (because I want to harvest the honey from that super later on). She makes some unusual friends as she has to strike out on her own after her parents move out of town.Reading your response ive realised that you can’t be sure if the queen you spotted was the old queen or a new queen. There were a few points in the story where the writing wasn't great, or the characters were acting out of character that just didn't fit with the story's vibe.

You might try putting a few foundationless frames with starter strips in the brood nest - that will put the nurse bees to work drawing new comb and give the queen a place to lay. I enjoyed this book but I was not able to get fully into the story, as I felt that the characters were somewhat distant and hard to connect with. Nectar, honey with and without caps, and water can be farther from the brood but still available in nearby cells or frames.I knew if Brian and I could not get a queen today it would be a week before we would be able to go in the hive and install a new queen.

If you don't have new eggs or young larva 3-4 days after you put the frames back in, THEN you can (should) get a new mated queen from a good queen breeder. When inspecting a healthy frame, you will see cells in the lower-center filled with brood followed by a narrow layer of pollen then honey. The author could have cut out several sentences about her blushing or being sheepish and not used to praise had Sage just owned that she was amazing.When we captured a swarm last year to inhabit the Warre, it was a small one which seemed to build the first box very quickly and then just stopped building. Also the use of some modern words and things such as a (lavender) latte felt off from the medieval-ish world, but I guess that it is OK because it is fantasy? we'll just have to wait and see what they have/had in mind, and hopefully it will be staying put in my apiary.

True, it is often said that a single Queen cell in the middle of a frame is indicative of supercedure and multiple Queen cells at the tops and bottoms of frames is an indication of swarming. You should always start by checking the center frames in a brood chamber because this is where the brood usually are, and it is typical for the outer frames to be filled with honey. When his brother, the Crown Prince, is up to no good and secrets are being kept, will Sage step up to the challenge or keep her cozy life cozy?This is a Romantasy (romance and fantasy) story, although throughout the story I found it confusing who the intended love interest was (Prince Finn, Freddy the gargoyle, or the Crown Prince Owen). Yesterday, I pulled off the honeycomb box to discourage robbing, but I want to keep it (possibly freeze it) to be able to feed back if the bees need it in winter. although I am aware that that statement is likely true a majority of the time, I have learned that bees are definitely opportunists, and placement of the cell is likely about happenstance/convenience, rather than being a "neon sign" of intent to swarm.