Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association Potluck

I went to the Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association potluck on Tuesday.  Not really a meeting, but I did get my questions answered.  For one, I had forgotten that the queen mated with up to 12-15 drones (according to wikipedia).  So she may have mated with one german drone or something and that's why I get a few dark bees.  I was also told that even the pacakged bees probably won't kick out the drones until the summer dearth, so still seeing drones is also normal.

I also finally found my queen.  I was updating my bee log by going through the pictures and counting frames of brood vs honey, etc. while also checking for the queen again.  Sure enough, I found her at the bottom of a frame, with her paint dot barely visible.  I may not have seen her in the flesh, but I at least recognized her shape in the photo before I even noticed the dot, so that's something.