I'm new to the Bee 'Biz' and have a few questions. I'm also new to this forum, having just subscribed this morning, so if this is not the place to ask these questions please forgive me. On 5/7 I received and installed two 3# packages of bees in my two hives, I have never been in an apiary other than my own and these are the first bees to join me. Last Saturday I opened the hives for the first time and removed the queen cages. I looked for evidence of an active queen i.e. eggs in the cells, but did not see any. I also could not find the queen. Neither of these have me to concerned since I realy don't know what I'm looking for. At this point I'm assuming that everything is all right. Is there any sure fire easy way to determine if the queens is present. I don't want to live with my assumtion for to long! Thanks, Dan Toshach Hobbies for Manchester, Mi. [log in to unmask]