In a message dated 2/10/00 3:19:41 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<<It appears to me that sometime since October, they raised a new queen.  Is
this possible?>>

Among the possibilites, they could have already have raised the queen in
October, and both queens were in the hive the last time you checked. The
unmarked fresh virgin or recently mated queen would have been smaller than
usual.