The Little Hive That Could(n't)

Poor Lavender just hasn't gotten over this string of bad luck, at least not yet anyway. I've just placed an order for a new Italian queen for the smaller, weaker hive.

I wasn't 100% sure last week, when I thought they were too buzzy to be "normal", but I confirmed this evening, upon inspection, that Lavender is (again) queenless. If you're one of my 2 or 3 regular readers, you may remember that I purchased a queen for Lavender last August after trying, unsuccessfully to help them raise a queen by giving them a frame of fresh eggs.

At that time, giving them some eggs at least helped their population and straightened out a laying worker problem. So far, this time around, I don't believe I have a laying worker, at least not a very active one, because there isn't a lot of drone comb.

Tonight, it was too late in the day, and I was in a hurry, so I didn't take any pics, but there wasn't anything to photograph anyway. In fact, that is the problem, other than pollen and honey stores, there is nothing in the comb. At this point in the season, it is very, very bad to not have any new brood, and if I don't turn things around fast, it could mean the end of the colony. They're working so hard to collect nectar and store honey, and the lifespan of the honeybee is way too short this time of year.

Tonight, if I had more smoker fuel, I would have preferred to move a frame or two from Rose to Lavender, but luck was against me. In addition to ordering a queen, I also ordered some smoker fuel, because I am completely out.

I should receive the new queen on Tuesday, but won't have smoker fuel to install the new queen for a couple more days. Since I don't want to wait that long to install her, I guess I'm going to have to get creative about what to burn, that creates a smoke that's as cool and white as possible, and that I already have around the house. Any suggestions?