Hello guys and gals, I have a Russian colony that is going on it's third Queen this year, at least that's what I can tell based on the amount of Supersedure cells I saw being cut down on my frames. These girls have been through several Queens this year, maybe more than I know about.
My First Queen had a Russian/ Italian background and was an excellent layer, she packed the frames full of Brood, leaving absolutely no room for stores around the sides, when I first installed the Nuc to the hive, I was attacked by black colored bees from another hive, supposedly the one I got had received a lot of drifters from other nucs in the guys yard. A week later when I inspected the hive again, they were gone, and the Queens young were excellent, Nice, Calm on the Comb, all the things a Beekeeper likes. But for some reason, they Re-queened themselves, the next time I was in the hive I noticed Supersedure cells littering the face of one frame, all capped over, I thought about making a split with them, but decided to just leave them and see what the hive did.
That was when I got Queen Female Dog (not sure if swearing is aloud here or not) she was an awful laying Queen who had young that had temper tantrums every time I came within ten feet of the hive, there are still a few hanging around in the hive, she layed her brood in small patches here and there, she was one of those Queens that the Beekeeper would want to find purely so he could smash her to a pulp, but I didn't dare, her young attacked me so fiercely that I couldn't work the Brood box for weeks.
Around two weeks ago, right after I got home from my vacation, I rushed to the hive to inspect it, and found them much calmer than usual, for once I didn't get attacked while working the Honey Super, when I opened the Brood Box for the first time in a month, I found eggs everywhere, frames that were previously filled with Stores had been drained and filled with eggs and Larvae, Drone Comb was all over the top bars and there was Pupae and Larvae in each one. I got to the frame that had been covered in Supersedure cells before and found more cells being torn down, and one very large Queen happily dispensing eggs, she did very good for it being the first time she had seen me, laying two eggs before she started running around on the comb. She has a very red tint to her abdomen, and she has filled the hive full to bursting with young. Needless to say, I love her, I have seen her young ones doing orientation flights recently, some are very dark, while some are as Yellow as Italians, I guess Mutts really are better, I haven't inspected the hive to see how they would react to me, but I think they'll be fine, they don't attack me when I get near the hive at least.
Why do my Russians go through so many Queens? Should I worry about the current Queen? And has anyone had a hive do this before? Thanks Folks, and Happy Beekeeping, Cole.