Requeened 5 fives about 15 days ago. Checked at 3 days and queens released. Checked 10 days later and could not find ANY brood in the cells of 1 hive. I bought the queen from a reputable commerical package and queen bee company.
I placed h er in a small swarm hive. there was very little comb built up, But I felt enough for her to start laying.
What do you think? Not mated??
Does it have anything to do with the small swarm and little comb?
Or having enough nurse bees?????
Any thoughts! Left a message for the bee company and have not heard back.[/b]
Hello
It could be that she was mated and then shipped i would give her a little while longer. I know the queen i had ordered was small and did not start laying for about a week if they are working and doing thier job i would wait but not to long.
Tom
Patience. I had one go 3 weeks before she got kicked off....
Quote from: Hi-TechPatience. I had one go 3 weeks before she got kicked off....
If it takes 3 weeks, it means that bees have raised a new queen.
If you have bought a new queen it should lay eggs after 3-4 days.
Not if there is no comb to lay in....
Quote from: Hi-TechNot if there is no comb to lay in....
If it is summer bees make combs. It cannot be reason. I have not met situation that hive has no combs in beeyard.
It is important with queens that dont waste time. Beed cycle is 3 weeks. To wait 3 weeks more makes 1,5 month. It is 2 bee generations when you raise hives. It is really a big gap in hives development.
In 6 weeks normal one box hive grow up to 4 box.
We've had problems in England with poor queens this year - see this article http://www.bbka.org.uk/news/news/bbka/research-into-poor-queens.shtml
I would contact the supplier and let them know you have a problem with one of the queens. He should supply a replacement, free of charge.
Quote from: BusyBeeWe've had problems in England with poor queens this year -
Roger is mad with his queens. He started those problem writings last year and problem is again this year. I just dont't trust Rogers reseaches. He knows the result and now gathers evidences.
When you change queen there are allways problems. My lossess are usually 50%. More queens and problems are handled.
When first year beekeeper operates with queens everything may happen. Question is not about bolts and nuts.
Finsky wrote = If you have bought a new queen it should lay eggs after 3-4 days.
Hi-Tech Wrote = Not if there is no comb to lay in....
If you read the original post
KaraBelle wrote= I placed h er in a small swarm hive. there was very little comb built up, But I felt enough for her to start laying.
A phrase comes to mind : Put your brain into gear before opening your mouth.
Or am I being overly ctriticising?
Quote from: DiverA phrase comes to mind : Put your brain into gear before opening your mouth
YEAH, I have raised bees 45 years and raised queens 40 year. I do not need think any more what I say. It comes from my spinal cord.
If queen has no space to lay it swarms even if colony is coffee cup size.
Beginners feed often syrup whole summer and so even mini colony swarms.
It is a small hive, but there are open comb cells where she could lay. I'm feeding sugar water and added a frame of brood from another hive, just to have enough workers bees till a replacement comes. I will look again in a day or so and see if she is laying and let you folks know the results.
If you see the queen, you should change it. If it is 15 days old it should allready lay eggs. Dont wait any more.
Syrup feeding does not help. To give emerging bee frame from another hive is best help. 5 occupied frame is good start for hive. Summer is yet young. You should restrict the room which bees occupy.
Here is example. This hive was such one after winter 3 months ago and now it has 5 boxes. I helped it with brood frames of big hives. My aim is to get 200 lbs honey in July. It needs more a full box of bees more to get that yield.
http://bees.freesuperhost.com/yabbfiles/Attachments/tiny.jpg
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Quote from: Diver
A phrase comes to mind : Put your brain into gear before opening your mouth.
Or am I being overly ctriticising?
At the risk of incurring your critical ire for butting in... I must admit that I have no idea what it is that you are criticizing. (Apparently my brain is in neutral.)
I am sure that Finsky knows exactly what he is talking about. I am also sure that Hi-Tech was conversationally referring to a specific situation that HE experienced with the lack of laying room. From KaraBelle's original description, she judged that there was laying room, but left open the possibility that there may not have been enough.
I see nothing worth criticizing in any of their posts.
When hive has virgin queen it spreads nectar over all places.
After queen has mated bees clear and polish cells in the center of hive.
Polished area may be in two frames and palm size. Bees move even capped honey away from laying area.
If you do not find that kind of area in the center of hive queen has something wrong. It does not start from edges of frames.
Pay attention to Finsky's last post, the bees will free up the space for the queen to lay if there is such space in the hive.
Also note that a productive queen in a swarm will begin laying as soon as there is wax to lay eggs on. I've seen many queens lay a beautiful pattern on foundation then have to wait to lay more eggs while the worker bees draw out the comb on the foundation she laid on.
Queens, particularly purchased queens, should begin to lay within a week. the longer the delay the more likelyhood you'll see supercedure cells when the laying does start.
Quote from: FinskyQuote from: BusyBeeWe've had problems in England with poor queens this year -
Roger is mad with his queens. He started those problem writings last year and problem is again this year. I just dont't trust Rogers reseaches. He knows the result and now gathers evidences.
Yes - there are some in England who are also sceptical. Our poor weather in May, which is usually very, very good could have created its own problems this year. I'm a newbie, so keeping an open mind .... not convinced either way at the moment. But I'm darn sure we'll never figure the bees out, 100% :wink:
QuoteWhen you change queen there are allways problems. My lossess are usually 50%. More queens and problems are handled.
When first year beekeeper operates with queens everything may happen. Question is not about bolts and nuts.
So very true, as I found out with my queen.
I learn a lot from you, Finsky. Thank you :)
IndianaBrown
I joined this forum to interact with fellow beekeepers and learn from them and possibly pass something on of my own experiences. Finsky gave some good advice (as he usually does) only to have a reply posted where obviously the full thread had not been read. This does not assist the original poster, just confuses the issue. I thought I would comment on it to try and stop the confusion that may have been caused.
Quote from: DiverThis does not assist the original poster, just confuses the issue. .
Never mind. Beepeeking is not a such where you ask simple question and you give simple answer. And the original answer is not clear at all. No one pay me for this and I may write what ever. Free is worthless.
There many alternatives to handle that problem and it depends for intance does hive have 3 frames bees of whole box. Are those 3 frames in 10 frames box or where?
I like to give complicate answers because it is way to learn to see things.
Why my queen does not lay? - I can write a book from issue.
DONT DO AS I SAY. USE YOUR OWN BRAINS
Got a replacement queen today. Opened the hive and had a frame of capped brood and a small 2" diameter circle of larvae on another frame. Kind of odd. It was in the upper left hand corner of the frame where honey is usually stored. It was surrounded by honey.
Anyway. It seems that maybe she needed more comb built before she started laying. I thought she had enough comb, but the bees were putting honey and pollen in the other frames of comb. New experience for me.
Thanks for sharing ..appreciate everyones experiences.