Here in Montana we are just now coming out of winter. The past week or so has been the first opportunity we?ve had to do the seasons first inspections.
A hive we did today was rather odd. At least to me. No queen noted. No brood of any age. No queen cells, not even a queen cup.
Plenty of stores, both pollen and ?nectar?.
Could this queen be on a brood break this early? She did one last year in July.
We added a frame of brood with eggs just in case they need to re-queen. Plenty of bees and otherwise look very healthy.
Same timing here. Just got into the first hives 2 days ago.
Hmmm. Interesting question. Queen put herself on a brood break? That is a new one to me.
It is more likely that she has brood. You just cannot see it yet because it is at very early stage, eggs only. She probably has 2 frames of eggs laid right now. In 10 days you will see it as capped brood.
Another possibility is she has turned drone layer. The bees do not want drones yet so they will be gobbling up the eggs behind her. The result is empty combs, no brood.
Or they are indeed hopelessly queenless.
You did the right thing. In 10 days do an inspection, if your queen is in there, you will have brood in the center of the brood as Thp says or you will have queen cells on the frame you added. Either way you are good.
Jim Altmiller
Are they polishing any cells in anticipation of a queen starting to lay. I find polishing a good indicator of the presence of a queen.
Even nucs that you are expecting a queen to be laying but no eggs, but plenty of polishing then we will shut it up and come back for a look in 7 days. 9/10 times there will be eggs.
Doesn't make sense that the queen wouldn't be laying or that there is no brood. I wouldn't have much hope for this hive.
Quote from: Acebird on April 22, 2020, 08:27:25 AM
Doesn't make sense that the queen wouldn't be laying or that there is no brood. I wouldn't have much hope for this hive.
Wow! Thanks for the optimism! I personally don?t have enough hives...like 10 or so... to ?not have much hope?. Pretty sure it?s going to be okay. May not be with the queen from last year but like was stated above at least there is a frame of eggs so they can do their thing. It?s early still....😁
QuoteNo queen noted. No brood of any age.
I don't mean to hurt your feelings but if this hive went through winter not producing brood then the queen is gone or a dud. You can try the eggs but if it turned into a laying worker over winter they are not going to make a queen. With 10 hives you should have plenty of resources to split and make up for the dud. I personally would not waste time and resources on a hive so far behind the eight ball but you can do whatever you like.
Quote from: Acebird on April 22, 2020, 12:23:01 PM
QuoteNo queen noted. No brood of any age.
I don't mean to hurt your feelings but if this hive went through winter not producing brood then the queen is gone or a dud. You can try the eggs but if it turned into a laying worker over winter they are not going to make a queen. With 10 hives you should have plenty of resources to split and make up for the dud. I personally would not waste time and resources on a hive so far behind the eight ball but you can do whatever you like.
There in lies the difference. Up here we are just getting started. If this hive makes a queen, we aren?t really loosing much time. We are just coming out of winter. There are a ton of bees in there right now. And since I?m more of a hobbyist I have the luxury to keep working on a hive when some sideliners or commercial people wouldn?t.
>We added a frame of brood with eggs just in case they need to re-queen. Plenty of bees and otherwise look very
healthy.
All replies look to be good advice. Since your are having brood and eggs from other hives of your same yard, even though it is early in your area, I agree with Ace, his point is valid and could be a possibility. Either way, you did the right thing by placing the vibrant frame in this hive. Hopefully, on the bright side, they are just slow as HP said and they will not need to make a new queen. But looking at this situation in another angel, being you have other hives already producing, and even though you might have a fertile queen here. It might not be a bad idea to replace her with a queen that is up to par once you see what the score is? IMHO
Phillip
I would not say they are slow. I would say they are just getting started or not yet started. In the north the queens will not get going until they see sunshine, the temperature comes up enough everyday, and a few bees start bringing in the first available pollens which is willows and alder in my area.
For example: as of this past weekend, My hives have no brood right now. BUT they are sporting between 2 and 5 frames of freshly laid eggs and teeny tiny larvae. They are far from slow. They are rocket launched. ;)
Again, bee patient. Check in 10 days. That is the timing from a laid egg to capped brood. You may be pleasantly surprised. If that hive is still blank at that time, look for the other possible causes I mentioned above.
No argument from me. I was going by his statement of seeing nothing in this hive, too having eggs, larva, and brood in another. Perhaps suggesting they may be slow was incorrect. Perhaps I should have said, being they are not quite as fast at getting started. I am still learning.
Phillip
Quote from: Acebird on April 22, 2020, 12:23:01 PM
QuoteNo queen noted. No brood of any age.
I don't mean to hurt your feelings but if this hive went through winter not producing brood then the queen is gone or a dud. You can try the eggs but if it turned into a laying worker over winter they are not going to make a queen. With 10 hives you should have plenty of resources to split and make up for the dud. I personally would not waste time and resources on a hive so far behind the eight ball but you can do whatever you like.
Ace,
If this hive turned into a laying worker hive, it would be full of drone larvae by now. Since it is full bees, I would not give up on it this early.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: Ben Framed on April 22, 2020, 01:12:38 PM
Since your are having brood and eggs from other hives of your same yard,
Hey, maybe I am wrong but this is my logic.
The longer the winter the more important it is for the queen to lay brood. A hive can't support raising bees if it doesn't have any young ones.
Jim I think a laying worker hive is not going to have drone brood overwinter. They eat them or dispose of them as fast as they are laid. Keep in mind that the hive does not have nectar overwinter in cold areas. It's a lot of work to use honey to raise bees.