What I did was:
I put 1 drop on a needle and that left only a very small bead of lube on the needle. I let the bead slide off the needle and onto one of the balls in the bearing.
Like I said, I don’t have any easily used compressed air.
I seriously doubt you live anywhere near me. If you haven’t noticed yet, I live in Squishy Mouse Land. Which, believe it or not is the US but is 10 lightyears away from anywhere else in the country. 
I that case, if you can, I would suggest since you’re using mineral spirits, clean the bearing again using the paper slip method:
http://yoyoexpert.com/forums/index.php/topic,23234.0.html
Leave the shields off for a bit, see how the bearing is spinning while in play.
If after this it is still giving you problems, it ain’t worth it anymore. Get a new bearing.
I agree that it shouldn’t be about maintaining a bearing’s life. At least not for me. I do use lube, but for me it’s all about the noise. I’m just not a fan of bearing noise… I am pretty obsessive about my computer noise, too. A little bit of lube goes a long way in shaving off dBa from a throw’s noise level.
To the OP: no matter how little lube you think you put in, it could still be the culprit. Even with the pin method I still sometimes need to break in a yoyo. With Gorillus Lubricus, I ALWAYS have to spend a long time breaking it (it’s a pretty thick lube!). With V4M less so. The YYJ stuff was in the middle.
The suggestion to run it without lube at all is a great one, even if you eventually want to lube. Run it dry, and you’ll know whether it was the lube causing responsiveness or if the bearing just needs to be replaced.
With mineral spirits, let it dry longer than you think it needs. Without a compressor handy, I spin dry to the best of my ability, and let it sit for a long while. No less than 15 minutes; if I’m not in a rush, a few hours while I do other stuff! Then I put it back on the stick and spin it a lot more… usually during this second spinning phase you can feel it gain more spin time for some reason… maybe whatever residue is left from the mineral spirits has to be worked through? Dunno. Anyhow, only once I notice this shift in spin time/sound do I put the bearing into a yoyo and give’er a go.
A bit OCD? Maybe…
I have my preferences. I prefer Dry Play, which has a proven record for me of INCREASING spin time.
Of course, we’ve heard the argument for running dry, as well as the pros and cons.
Most of us also know that any lube will slow down the bearing or at the very least reduce spin time.
I don’t really question what people use. If they are happy, then who cares?
In your case, you dislike bearing noise. To address this, you’re using a tiny bit of lube. All I can say is that you’re probably only cutting a few seconds of spin time off your throw. Big deal. If you really need those few seconds back, it’s time to try shorter combos, a harder throw or playing cleaner.
Again, your’e happy with your results. That’s all that matters.
Exactly. I had lubed a Terrapin X ceramic, but recently cleaned it again. It spins a LONG time, and the noise isn’t really SO bad. If I really need to maximize spin time, I can use the yoyo that has the TPX ceramic in it (right now, the format:C).
But honestly… it’s ALL about clean playing. If I hit Superman (or whatever… that’s just the trick I’m on right now) kinda sloppy, I’m out of useful spin by the end of it no matter what bearing is in. The TPX isn’t making or breaking the ability to finish the combo. If I hit it clean with my Kyo DNS (high walls, narrower gap) with a lubed flat 8-ball, I still have lots of spin left. It’s 1000% about technique.
But it’s not a bad thing to “know” it’s not the bearing’s fault sometimes. 
You lubed a Terrapin? Then cleaned it? Or does the ceramic not have the coating?
No coating. You don’t need to lube ceramics but you can (Frank Difeo and others say you should). Mine was going unused before, so I put in some lube to at least get some play out of it. But the other day I decided to restore it to dry status and play it at times noise isn’t as much of an issue. That’s all!
Terrapin X S/C ceramics never require further lube, even after cleaning in acetone.
People are still throwing the first ones from '08 with no problems, ceramic ball bearings will last 5 times longer then steel.