It's been 18 days since we observed a swarm of bees that had departed from the hive, and there is no sign of new life in the brood chamber. There is a lot of nectar being stored, but it appears that the queen may have been lost in the days of bad weather we had during the time of her mating flights. Even allowing for 10 days before she managed to successfully mate, and 3 days before beginning to lay (the maximum I've found reference to), we should have been able to visually verify larvae within the brood area by now.
The remaining workers and drones are preparing stores, but I have a sad feeling that there will be no bees left to benefit from their work this winter.
On an up note, we have been enjoying the first blueberries of the season this week.
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