It has been 15 days sense the queen has been released and still no eggs or larvae? I did see the queen on day 8 but on my last inspection today I could not find her. I see no queen cups. I hope someone could help me figure out whats wrong?
My other 2 hives that were installed days later have eggs, larvae, and capped larvae. I don't understand. All were installed from packages.[attachment=0][/attachment][attachment=1][/attachment][attachment=2][/attachment]
Queen no good???
Blacksheep might have hit the nail on the head. Can you steal a frame with eggs from one of your other hives? If they start queen cells than you know that the queen was bad.
I certainly can try that. I am not sure how to get all the bees off the frame though.
Quote from: billdean on May 16, 2016, 09:59:45 PM
I certainly can try that. I am not sure how to get all the bees off the frame though.
Leave them on. They're mostly nurse bees that will be accepted by the hive.
X2 about a defective queen. You may have been sold a virgin queen who either did not make it back from her maiden flight or she will start any day now. Adding a frame of eggs to this hive will give them the best chance to survive either way.
Do not do a heavy inspection, just remove an end frame move a frame or 2 and pull a frame and replace it with a frame of brood and put the hive together. Shaken the bees off the frame and then you can take the frame away do a good inspection with out any netting affecting your vision.
Jim
A quick shake of the frame above the hive will remove most of the bees. You don't have to remove all of them. Let it set out while you open up the other hive. The foragers will leave the frame. The few remaining nurse bees will be alright in the new hive. Just make sure the queen is not on the frame when you put it in the other hive.
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 16, 2016, 10:11:57 PM
X2 about a defective queen. You may have been sold a virgin queen who either did not make it back from her maiden flight or she will start any day now. Adding a frame of eggs to this hive will give them the best chance to survive either way.
Do not do a heavy inspection, just remove an end frame move a frame or 2 and pull a frame and replace it with a frame of brood and put the hive together. Shaken the bees off the frame and then you can take the frame away do a good inspection with out any netting affecting your vision.
Jim
Thanks Jim............I did try that before dark tonight. The frame that I installed in the virgin queen hive was full of eggs and larvae of different sizes. There was little capped brood. I hope I did OK. I hope they are OK. That was a little nerve racking. Those bees did not want to come off that frame.
Billie
I talked with the guy I got my bees from and he said: "have you actually found a queen in that hive? If so she needs to be taken out 12 hours prior to putting the new queen in. If you cannot spot her then most likely she is not there. Without her being there then any day now the workers will start laying eggs. If that starts then the whole colony is a loss.." OH NO!!
He is sending me out another Queen today.
The open brood you just put in will keep the laying workers at bay.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm
Quote from: billdean on May 16, 2016, 10:51:04 PM
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 16, 2016, 10:11:57 PM
X2 about a defective queen. You may have been sold a virgin queen who either did not make it back from her maiden flight or she will start any day now. Adding a frame of eggs to this hive will give them the best chance to survive either way.
Do not do a heavy inspection, just remove an end frame move a frame or 2 and pull a frame and replace it with a frame of brood and put the hive together. Shaken the bees off the frame and then you can take the frame away do a good inspection with out any netting affecting your vision.
Jim
Thanks Jim............I did try that before dark tonight. The frame that I installed in the virgin queen hive was full of eggs and larvae of different sizes. There was little capped brood. I hope I did OK. I hope they are OK. That was a little nerve racking. Those bees did not want to come off that frame.
Billie
Billie,
Being that you are a new beekeeper, going into your hives just before sundown is not what you want to be doing. That is when all of the field bees are coming home for the night. They tend to get very defensive as the son goes down and until morning until the field bees are again working. Mid day is your best time especially during a flow.
I will post a list of helpful hints, in the main beekeeping forum, that I just received in my email that might help.
Like Michael said, adding that frame of brood will keep the laying workers at bay if there is no queen. Bee sure to keep her in the cage to see how the bees react. That will tell you if you have a queen or not.
Jim
Quote from: Michael Bush on May 17, 2016, 11:55:40 AM
The open brood you just put in will keep the laying workers at bay.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm
Thank you Michael.............that was some very good information I needed to read. It makes me feel better that I did the right thing. Now what do I do with the queen I have coming? Thank you again!!
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 17, 2016, 12:13:17 PM
Quote from: billdean on May 16, 2016, 10:51:04 PM
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 16, 2016, 10:11:57 PM
X2 about a defective queen. You may have been sold a virgin queen who either did not make it back from her maiden flight or she will start any day now. Adding a frame of eggs to this hive will give them the best chance to survive either way.
Do not do a heavy inspection, just remove an end frame move a frame or 2 and pull a frame and replace it with a frame of brood and put the hive together. Shaken the bees off the frame and then you can take the frame away do a good inspection with out any netting affecting your vision.
Jim
Thanks Jim............I did try that before dark tonight. The frame that I installed in the virgin queen hive was full of eggs and larvae of different sizes. There was little capped brood. I hope I did OK. I hope they are OK. That was a little nerve racking. Those bees did not want to come off that frame.
Billie
Billie,
Being that you are a new beekeeper, going into your hives just before sundown is not what you want to be doing. That is when all of the field bees are coming home for the night. They tend to get very defensive as the son goes down and until morning until the field bees are again working. Mid day is your best time especially during a flow.
I will post a list of helpful hints, in the main beekeeping forum, that I just received in my email that might help.
Like Michael said, adding that frame of brood will keep the laying workers at bay if there is no queen. Bee sure to keep her in the cage to see how the bees react. That will tell you if you have a queen or not.
Jim
Oh no............Well I learned when not to go into a hive. No wonder those bees were so mad. They were still bussing this morning. Then the queen I have coming I should go ahead and put her in the hive? Keep her in the cage for a day or two? By react you mean if they are feeding her than its ok to let her go?
Billie,
By react, I mean that a queen right hive will cover the cage of a new queen and bite at the bars and try to kill her. It is hard to move the bees from the cage of a queen right hive. We are talking minutes, not days. A queen less hive will be be very interested in her, they will put out their tongue to feed her and touch her. You can easily move the bees around with your finger.
Just put the cage on top of the open hive on its side so that the bees will smell her and wait a few minutes to see what happens.
If you see that they like her and are easily moved you can even let her let her go that day. Leave her in the cage for an hour just to make sure of their reaction and then release her. If they are aggressive towards her, you could leave her over night to see if they change their attitude but I would not expect it. They are probable queen right.
Jim