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I am a complete rookie at bee keeping. Can anyone tell if this Queen has been mated?
If you can tell would you please explain how?
I'm a rookie, too... don't know.
But I do know she shore is purty! :grin:
Yea she does look good.
I was just reading an old thread where some people stated that if the queen is moving around the hive rather fast she is probably not mated.
When I saw this queen she was wondering around and moving quickly. I may have to wait and see if she lays eggs or all of a sudden looks more full in the abdomen. Or at least slows down in her movements.
A young queen will move around that way. I would say the only way to tell if she is mated is to see the brood once it is capped. You would not be able to tell by her size or movement. d2
I understand what you are saying.
Thanks.
Just watch her when walking on the comb. Under normal conditions, a mated queen walks on the comb not on bees and the bees will not walk on her. If mated she will usually have a royal court. Bees surrounding her, all facing her and picking up her pheromones and then spreading them to all corner of the hive.
If you smoked the heck out of them you probably will not see this.
A virgin queen does not get any respect. They walk on her and she has to walk on them. As mentioned, a virgin queen walks fast and goes all around the hive to orient herself.
Jim
Now that you mention it the workers did not move out her way.
Hope she mates soon this swarm is too small to spend money to buy a new queen.
Just look at the comb, if you see eggs or lava you have a laying queen.
But don't forget, a laying queen does not always mean a mated queen. d2
It would be my luck she isn't mated.
A few more days should tell the tale though.
If she is not mated she soon will be, provided she can go on mating flights. Come back in a week and your likely to see eggs and brood.
Well the hive is open and I know 3 days ago I picked up the frame with her on it. She immediately fly back in the box. So I guess it is waiting time. :rolleyes:
Went check my little hive this morning.
I found eggs and some small larva.
The bees are also building on a little more comb.
Well that didn't take long. My little swam has been chased out by sugar ants.
The ants are cleaning out the comb now.
I had put cinnamon an the inner cover and around the hive stand yesterday. I guess it got rid of the wrong bugs. :angry: :angry:
Craneman,
I hate to have to tell you this but going into the hive and taking it apart every day will also drive them out.
It looks like you have looked at the frames every day for the last 3 days.
The most that you want to inspect the hives is once a week, better yet, once every 10 days.
You could lift the lid (no smoke) and look but not going through removing frames.
Jim
That could very well be. I do tend to get impatient at times and also curious as to what is going on inside.
I wasn't going to open it today. I was going to watch and see if any incoming bees were bringing in pollen so I could show the wife who wanted to see.
You are right but please if I post that I am doing something wrong don't be afraid to let me know. I have everything to learn and need all the help I can get.
Thanks for pointing this out.
Live and learn buddy, sucks to lose a small swarm, but, I bet you catch another. Good luck brother, keep your chin up. G
I have 3 swarms in traps now that I will be bringing home this weekend. Plus 2 Packages coming. If Kelly bees would just return my messages and e mail so I can know when they are coming.
Craneman,
Since you will have a bunch of hives, you will bee able to offset your inspections so that you are not in any one hive too often. Good luck.
Jim
Yep I learned my lesson. STOP going in the hives so dang much!!! :wink:
I had a guy ask me yesterday if I can get some bees out of the wall in his camp. Said it has been there for 3 years. I have never done a cut out or anything like that. It sure would be nice to have as big a catch as this one could be. He is suppose to call me so we can go look at the wall and see what I may need to get this done. Now I have to build a bee vac. A 3 year old hive will likely have a bunch of ladies in it.
Craneman,
Go to the honey bee removal section here on Beemaster and search for JP the Beeman. JP did a lot of videos on how to remove bees. Scott Hardwood also did a lot of them. Search Hardwood. JP has his own site on Utube. You can spend days watching his videos and after watching a few you will feel a lot more comfortable doing cutouts.
Jim
I think I have watched all of JP's videos plus tons more from other people. I will be watching more to make sure I have as much info fresh in mind as possible.
My biggest concern is the guy told me they are behind a tin wall. I am thinking I should get the tin loose from the wall then back of for awhile and let them calm back down before starting the actual extraction. I all depends on how they act.
They are going to be upset when you open the wall... if you leave them alone they will calm down, and then be upset again when you start manhandling their comb..
Open the wall and start the cut out. Usually they become demoralized, and once you get the guard bees vacced up you can remove your bee suit. I have done quite a few cut outs with no bee suit, and I have had cut outs where I had to wear the suit to the end.. In the middle is the norm.
Thanks for the advice. Hadn't thought about them being upset when I start the cut out as well as when I pull the tin off. That will save a little time. From what the guy told me he can only get to the camp with a 4 wheel drive truck.So planning will essential and I don't even know if there is electricity there. My son borrowed my portable generator several years ago. I haven't been able to get him to bring it back. Dang kids.
Craneman, on the subject of running queens; I've had/have queens that'll outrun a race car and have a ton of brood at all states to back them up. One hive is runners. They all run. There's probably a lot of truth about a virgin queen being a runner but there's always some group of bees that'll make you question everything you know.
Thats why I say I have a lot to learn.
My biggest problem is after I read/watch and learn the info.My old brain don't want to drag it back out so I can use the info. :angry: :angry: