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What's This??

5/25/2015

2 Comments

 
I think I have lost my queen. I also think I have no brood in the comb. That is a double "oh no".

The Queen: Her royal highness had clipped wings. I know because I saw her last evening outside of the hive. (In fact, she sort of popped out of the bottom entrance as I was musing over the wiggling of a worker.) She tried to fly and only got as far as she did because the wind was blowing strongly. I picked her up with a stick and a tiny burdock leaf and put her back on the landing board. She tried to fly again. 

This happened multiple times during which I crowded another bee next to her and observed her more closely than I had had a chance to when installing the package. The other bees really seemed not to be interested in her--NOT a good sign. She also seemed a little clumsy and aimless (I read later than queens are graceful--this gal was not), which if you have ever spent time observing insects, is how they behave if they are sick or dying.

After she plopped again into the grass (for the last time according to my observations), I took my Lymie, incoherent self into the apartment to ask my groggy Grandpa if queen bees wings were supposed to be that short. After a somewhat round about and round about we go sort of conversation, during which I was having difficulty getting enough "oomph" out of my lungs for him to hear me, I went back out and could not locate the queen again.  (By the way, the answer was what I expected...no. Some beekeepers clip their queen's wings to keep them from flying [which I guess would  help with spring swarming issues], but naturally they are supposed to reach about twice the length this bees were.)

So, I am going to assume I have no queen for two reasons: 1) with those wings, she could not fly and therefore she could not get back into the hive...unless she crawled the entire way--which is possible. 2) She was acting rather ill and the workers really weren't paying her any mind. As Mr. Bush says, "Don't assume that you know more than the bees..."

I know, that if there is brood in the hive, that the bees will raise themselves a new queen if the old one dies, is killed, or absconds for whatever reason. So I determined that if I did naught else today, I was going to check my hives.

Which I did...before breakfast--but that is rather another story.

No brood: At least, as far as I could tell, I have no brood in the comb. I do have some capped honey (yes!), but no brood. This tells me that the queen had not started laying; either that or she hadn't been bred yet. The frames are not full of comb (more than last week though!) With the absence of a queen a worker bee will take on that role, but the eggs she lays will all be drones (I think--I might want to double check that). 

There might be a supercedure cell being constructed (where they will raise a new queen--providing there is brood), but I do not know for certain; I am not quite sure how to tell.

All in all, it looks as if I need a new queen...and that I shouldn't fritter about for two weeks before I get one either.

     Racheal

2 Comments
Holly Williams
5/25/2015 02:31:52 pm

Hi Racheal,
Are there any other beekeepers in your area. If there are, your bees will probably pay those hives a visit and "steal" a queen. That happened a couple of times with our hives, and it's actually common for bees to seek an expanded genetic pool in this way. The upside is that you get a free queen. The downsides are that: 1) the foreign queen may not bring the genetics for gentleness with her, and/or 2) she may be carrying mites or hive beetle larvae.

But hopefully nothing like that will happen. You could also buy another queen if you really wanted. They come sealed in a sugary sort of case that you put in the hive. The worker bees lick off the sugary sealing material, gradually getting used to the new queen while freeing her. :)

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Holly
5/26/2015 11:28:56 am

After consulting with the bee person in the family (L), I was apparently wrong that bees will steal a queen from another hive. I thought I had heard that, but L says that what actually happens is that a queen-less hive will leave and go to a hive that has a queen. So, you'll probably want to get a new queen bee pretty soon.

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