Hi again,
I just posted "I think my queen is dead" Thanks for the input, but I couldn't get the racks out. I tried repeatedly, man those things were just welded together. I could see capped honey, but thats it. Don't know if my queen is alive or dead so should I just order one and install her just to be safe? Or just leave them be and hope for the best? By the way I cant find anywhere that sells queens and Bees could someone give me some addresses or phone numbers. Thanks again guys.
Heres where I just ordered one from last week
http://www.kelleybees.com/
I paid $11.50 for the queen including shipping plus $2.00 insured, Totaling $13.50 You may want to get some expert advise before you spend your money and maybe get her killed if there is a queen in the hive
Depending what you have you could try Michael Bush with feral survivors you can try a PM and put Queen in the subject, or www.bushfarms.com , I believe, or Jester Bee Co. who has russians, email at
[email protected] or phone 870-531-2373. You might get lucky. I saw some other posts, just can't remember where about queens. I think Sippee Bee was one (I'm not sure if this is right) and maybe Kona Queen in Hawaii at
[email protected] were two that were mentioned. Good Luck! David
Sounds like you really need to get some frames out and see if you have a queen or not. Start at one end and pry that frame over to the side. Then the next and the next until you get to the far side. Maybe even try to get some of the propolis off of the sides of the end bars as you go. When you get to the far side you should have a frame you can get out. Even if it's crowded, just go slowly and try not to roll the bees too much. Set that one aside and you now have room to get frames out. If you think they are burred down to the box below, then pry the box up first and then pry each frame over.
IF you don't find eggs or brood you still might have a virgin queen that isn't laying yet. If you have some brood you can add you can elemenate this possibility by adding a frame of eggs and young brood and see if they start a queen cell.
To be more accurate here's what you may find:
1) No eggs or open brood (and maybe no capped brood). Possible causes: They have raised a new queen who isn't laying yet; They are queenless.
2) Eggs with occasional doubles. Possible causes: They have raised a new queen who has just started to lay but hasn't got the hang of it; They have laying workers.
3) Lots of multiple eggs. Possibly a lot of drone cap and open brood. Cause: Laying workers.
Of all of these possible states only one will accept a new queen. The others are all a waste of a good queen.
If you decide you want a queen I have queens. :)
www.bushfarms.com
As a new beekeeper I had a "worry" the other day. I thought a frame was "welded" to the frame below it by wax or something. I finally got a good grip on it and pulled gently upward. There was no burr comb on it at all. It was just full of capped honey. That sucker was heavy and sure felt stuck having only delt with empty frames to compare weight wise. If your frame pries away from the one next to it and you think it is stuck somewhere else, perhaps it's just full.