Hello,
I am a newbee, about three weeks into this adventure with 2 packages installed in their hives about 3 weeks ago. Today I did a check to see if I the queens were laying and if I should add another deep super. I installed a second super on one of my hives because the comb was drawn out 60-70%...but now I read that 70-80% should be filled with honey or brood...did I do a bad thing by adding a second super too early?
Secondly, on my other hive we were unable to find the queen. We did however find larva and eggs, (I'm pretty sure but it was my first time seeing these in real life). We also found what looked to be a queen cell being built in the middle of one of the drawn frames. It was uncapped but that could have happened as I was pulling the frame out. We only saw the one cell. I'm wondering if the queen did die would new queen cells start this soon? (remember we saw eggs) and doesnt it seem weird that this would be happening on such a new hive. Oh and I dont know if it matters but this hive was maybe 1/2 drawn out with comb and we did not add another super to this hive.
I dont know what to do. I'll try to find more time to look a little harder to find the queen b/c it wasnt the nicest day today.
I appreciate any help, or thoughts and if I need to add more information I'll try.
Thanks,
Jay
"I am a newbee, about three weeks into this adventure with 2 packages installed in their hives about 3 weeks ago. Today I did a check to see if I the queens were laying and if I should add another deep super. I installed a second super on one of my hives because the comb was drawn out 60-70%...but now I read that 70-80% should be filled with honey or brood...did I do a bad thing by adding a second super too early?"
If you only have 4 or 5 frames being used (eggs, brood, pollen, nectar/honey), it was probably a little early to add the second box. Too much unused space makes it harder to keep the hive up to brood temperature and in my area invites too many unwanted pests into unguarded areas. Also the bees may have a tendency to go up in which case your outer frames in the bottom box may be ignored.
"Secondly, on my other hive we were unable to find the queen. We did however find larva and eggs, (I'm pretty sure but it was my first time seeing these in real life). We also found what looked to be a queen cell being built in the middle of one of the drawn frames. It was uncapped but that could have happened as I was pulling the frame out. We only saw the one cell. I'm wondering if the queen did die would new queen cells start this soon? (remember we saw eggs) and doesn't it seem weird that this would be happening on such a new hive. Oh and I dint know if it matters but this hive was maybe 1/2 drawn out with comb and we did not add another super to this hive."
Remember, a "package" is a bunch of bees and a queen that don't really know each others pheromone very well yet. Some will build queen cups "just in case". If you did see eggs, you had a queen a day or 2 ago. She may not be very well mated and they don't like her in which case they may try to supercede her. Just not enough bees in a package to do all this this fast with their lifespan. If you do see eggs, I would leave it alone.
Thanks Rast.
Should I take that second super off then and wait a bit longer or just leave it as is?
and should I destroy that queen cell we saw or just leave that?
bee's will always build false queen cell cups they might not ever use, when you see these just look inside it to make sure it doesn't have a larva in it and pull it off, it is natural for them to do this somewhere in the hive.
Quote from: TwT on April 20, 2009, 06:32:08 AM
bee's will always build false queen cell cups they might not ever use, when you see these just look inside it to make sure it doesn't have a larva in it and pull it off, it is natural for them to do this somewhere in the hive.
This even more evident in what are considered cold weather bees: Russians and Carniolans.
If it was me, I'd leave everything with both just the way they are and check back in a week for progress. The extra super at this time won't hurt as the bees are building up strength and you are feeding them. The one with queen cell, it could be just a queen cell cup which healthy hives put here and there all the time. I don't ever remove them anymore because they seem to like them and will just build out more of them.
Oh, I see you did not say you were feeding them or not. But it sounds like they are building out so it should be ok. It's up to you if you remove the upper box and put it on later in the game or not, but it will most likely be fine as they seem to be building up population well.