Have a ton of crazy family things happening lately and haven't been into the bees for a week or so. I have a small hive that's in a 5 frame nuc box. They only have 4 of the 5 frames drawn out and have started on the 5th. Today when I went into them there are quite a few capped queen cells on one of the frames. I spent some time looking for the queen and didnt find her. The cells are all over that one frame and not just on the bottom. Do you think that they are wanting to swarm or maybe I killed the old queen accidentally? Either way I'm going to dig through them again tomorrow and find out for sure if shes in there. I dont mind splitting them because I'm feeding hard right now as it is. Thoughts?
The bees know best. I would leave them alone for about 3 weeks.
I dont mind leaving them alone either idee.... :grin: what do you think they are up to?
Sounds like they are either doing an emergency queen replacement or a supercedure. Either way I would definitely leave them alone for the next 3 weeks.
Jim Altmiller
That's two votes.
Fish, is there room for the queen to lay? You mentioned you are feeding heavy.
If there is no room for the queen to lay Then I would look for the queen, cage her, split to be safe from swarming.
If there is room for laying then I would follow ID and Jim.
Under what conditions would he not leave them alone? For example, he said the cells were all over the frame. If they were only on the bottom, would that make a difference?
Only in the spring.
Quote from: Duane on September 04, 2019, 07:00:48 PM
Under what conditions would he not leave them alone? For example, he said the cells were all over the frame. If they were only on the bottom, would that make a difference?
Mr. Duane, Queen cells on the bottom of the frame most often means swarming whereas in the middle of the frames usually means supersedure. Not a guarantee but raises eyebrows, has high probability especially in the Spring.
This time of year when there are both queen cells on the bottom and middle confuses me. I would have to inspect for more data, looking for: eggs, queen, hive population, flow, mites, beetles, disease, stores, available laying space.
Went into them today and happy to report that they didnt swarm, they re-queened themselves for one reason or another. She's a good looking lady and us already doing a good job of laying a good pattern of eggs.
The old queen was way darker than her. I like them dark for some reason.
Fish, oh wee, my Man, that is a nice looking queen! Good thing for you that we are not neighbors. I?d be raiding your bee yard, I would grab that good looking queen, cage her and run home with her. She is a beautiful queen. Glad your nuc ordeal, queen cells, turned out very good and thanks so much for the follow up.
Me, I like light colored queens, yellow bees, light color honey too. But I also like the solid black queens. I have one jet black queen that lays typical Italian color bees. I figure black color is a recessive gene among honeybees.
Add: Good camera; close up, detailed, crisp, colorful, and clear.
Van
Van I hear ya! I dont know why I like the darker queens. Weird I guess. I do like my honey to be light though. I'll trade you this queen for your black one :wink:
You drive, I?ll pay the gas.
Pretty Lady. ... on white comb too - great picture.
Good catch Cool, new white comb. I was do focused on the queen..,
Quote from: van from Arkansas on September 12, 2019, 10:44:32 PM
Good catch Cool, new white comb. I was do focused on the queen..,
Nothing wrong with that Van - in that pic, seeing the white comb is like seeing what brand of sunglasses are on a Bunny ... not necessarily a good trait! :cool: :cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy:
Quote from: sawdstmakr on August 30, 2019, 03:43:43 AM
Sounds like they are either doing an emergency queen replacement or a supercedure. Either way I would definitely leave them alone for the next 3 weeks.
Jim Altmiller
How many -queen raising- days are left in the season in that area?
If Fishing Nut has a good golden rod flow going on, he probably has another month where the bees in that area are still producing drones. Our first frost could be in November or December.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on September 13, 2019, 04:48:57 AM
Quote from: sawdstmakr on August 30, 2019, 03:43:43 AM
Sounds like they are either doing an emergency queen replacement or a supercedure. Either way I would definitely leave them alone for the next 3 weeks.
Jim Altmiller
How many -queen raising- days are left in the season in that area?
Mid Sept and I see drone brood in at least one hive.
We are actually in a drought right now but the bees are bringing in tons of white and orange pollen so we'll see. I put some food plots in the ground for deer season ahead of this hurricane thinking that we'd get some rain from it.....NOPE! They came up nicely but now are wilted to the ground. :angry:
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on September 13, 2019, 04:48:57 AM
Quote from: sawdstmakr on August 30, 2019, 03:43:43 AM
Sounds like they are either doing an emergency queen replacement or a supercedure. Either way I would definitely leave them alone for the next 3 weeks.
Jim Altmiller
How many -queen raising- days are left in the season in that area?
HP, in Arkansas, we are having high temperatures in the 90, ninetyF every day, hot for Sept. we should be 10 degreesF cooler. So yes, there are still drones.
A little observation I made that someone may be interested in.....i went into this hive before the queen was mated and saw her, she was roughly the same size as a worker bee and was running around and trying to hide like a nervous wreck. After she got mated and started doing her job she is just walking around slowly and calmly looking into cells and laying eggs. Also I'd like to mention how fast she grew after being mated.....it was less than a week.