I'm happy to report that my manipulations are much less frantic and a bit better planned! However, the hives still aren't really cooperating!
This is the second week of adding a frame of eggs from the queen-right hive to the queenless one. Neither hives seem necessarily pissy, more like jumpy, but no stings both times. I saw no eggs in the queenless hive and just the end of the capped brood from the frame I added about 10 days ago. So I went into the queenright hive to find another frame of eggs. We are well and truly in a dearth it seems and they are only very slowly drawing comb on the empty frames. They both do have several full frames of honey.
Well low and behold what do I find in the queen right hive but a capped queen cell! What the heck???
So I'm wondering what to do.
1. Should I move the queen cell to the queenless hive and hope that the queen-right hive will build another one for whatever reason they built the first?
2. Do I leave the queen cell in the queen right hive for fear that if I move it, they may end up queenless too.
I did find eggs and larva in the queen right hive and moved one frame into the queenless hive. But I don't know what is the right thing to do. I'm also freaking out, because Kathy keeps asking if people still have drones, and I haven't seen one in a while, and I'm pretty much convinced I've now screwed up both of these hives!!
Help - reassurance and direction please!
Thanks for any advice,
love,
ziffa
I'm a little disappointed :( This report isn't nearly as entertaining as your last report :-D
Maybe I missed something. You added a frame of eggs to your queenless hive 10 days ago and they didn't make a queen cell from that frame? Are you trying to fix a laying worker problem in that hive? If not, why didn't they make a queen cell from that first frame?
I've still got plenty of drones in my hives about 800 miles north of Atlanta so I wouldn't panic. However if you're having trouble getting that second hive queenright and you don't have laying workers, a 3rd option would be to buy a mated queen. A mated queen gets that hive up and running and prepping for winter right now.
Otherwise I like option 1, provided you don't have a laying worker in your queenless hive.
:) sorry about that Bluebee! I've been working hard at NOT being ridiculous when I get in the hives! ;p
I don't know why the queenless hive doesn't seem interested in making a queen. I haven't seen ANY eggs, and no drones or drone brood, so I don't think I have a laying worker. I have been trying not to tear the whole hive up though, so I guess I could get deeper into the bottom box to make sure.
I won't be able to go back in until tomorrow. I'm just afraid if I move the cell that the old hive will then be queenless and I will be screwed. I guess I should look into getting a mated queen. Have you any recommendations for a source?
Thanks very much for the response!
love,
ziffa
ziffa, I think you are doing fine. Just keep moving frames of eggs into the queenless hive. They will eventually make a queen. Moving the queen cell might be a problem if you have laying workers. The bees in a laying worker hive might kill a queen cell that is inserted too early.
I read somewhere (I think is was Michael Bush) the best thing you can do to remedy a queenless hive is to move fresh eggs into it every week for 3 weeks. Not only does it give them eggs to make a queen with, but it also helps boost their numbers as they are dwindling.
njoylife10
And it suppresses laying workers. Taking the queen cell is tempting, but what if the queen in that hive is failing? You might want to make sure there are other cells in that hive before taking it.
Quote from: ziffabeek on August 23, 2011, 10:29:30 AM
I guess I should look into getting a mated queen. Have you any recommendations for a source?
I think fertile queens are still available in Florida. I bought one last month.
Have fun!
With regards to a queen, I have Carniolan, Italian, and my own raised mutts. When I do buy queens, I prefer to get them from a local beek when possible. That saves a lot of shipping costs, it makes my splitting schedule easier, and they might be better adapted to my climate.
When I buy over the Internet, I buy from sources as close to me as possible to save shipping, stress on the queens during hot shipping times, and also to get northern (ideally for me) adapted queens.
My little hobby bee yard is not refined to the point of trying to optimize for queen genetics yet. I'm sure there will be some beeks that focus more on pure breed genetics than I have so far. They're probably right, but for me, the mutts have done alright.
There has got to be lots of places to buy queens in Georgia. Bee's have to be a close second to peaches down there in Georgia!