observation hive question

[Kathyp]

sunday we finished putting up the observation hive.  it is 5 frames and hangs on the wall.  i gave them the perfect frame of eggs, larvae, and capped brood.  this is day 3 1/2. i see no sign of queen cells.  i covered the hive today to see if dark would encourage queen cell building.  so far, i have seen no progress in this direction.  it will not be long before the larvae will be to mature for queen cells?  what should i make of this?

[KONASDAD]

Never kept a OB. But I was wondering, how would the queen cell fit between the frame and glass?  :?

[Kathyp]

there is room.  bee space is maintained.

[Kathyp]

and....i just took a peek.  queen cell being built!!

guess they just needed some privacy!  :-)

[Frantz]

See, I told ya, They will probably build 4-5 of them I am guessing. I have hatched 5 queens out of my OB hive thus far. Keep us posted. Did you get those pictures of the thing yet?? I am anxious to see the set up that you have.
F

[Robo]

Personally, I wouldn't try to raise a queen in an observation hive.  The quality of a queen is highly dependent on the amount of bees available to make and feed cells. You want to rear queens in strong hives.

[LBEE]

I made a two brood frame observation for my mom and dad to watch.  They raised their own queen.  Since I only wanted the queen for the observation hive,  I did not need her to lay 1500 eggs per day!  With 5.4mm cell and 75% coverage it is about 10,400 cells which for 21 days works out to just shy of 500 eggs per day.  But if your frames are deep,  it would be up around 1250 if she lays 75% in all five frames.  If you later want to use her in a hive,  I would agree with Robo. 

Are all five frames of drawn comb or just the one?  (If only one,  it will take the hive a long time to build up.)  In any case,  I would recommend feeding the hive sugar-water.  If there is pollen on the comb close to the queen cells,  that would also be a help.

They can be addictive.  You can find yourself watching them for hours! 

Have fun!

[Kathyp]

all 5 frames are not drawn out.  i am feeding.  they are bringing in pollen and nectar.  i will take pictures.  they are addicting!

[Kathyp]

i have a queen!!!!

i was getting worried, but i saw they were acting differently today and so i went over the whole hive with a flashlight until i could find her.  i can not explain the difference really, but i wonder if she started laying today and this caused a reaction? 

anyway....it's a good thing!  :-)

[Frantz]

Yea, Kathy. I am glad that you found her. Now wait till you see how big she gets. Especially after her mating flights are done. You won't believe how much bigger she gets right before you eyes.
Good luck and congrats on finding her. If you watch her close you may get to hear her pip.
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[Kathyp]

she's  mated.  big and fat and acting like the queen!  :-)

[Brian D. Bray]

she's  mated.  big and fat and acting like the queen!  :-)

Domineering mother-in-law type Huh?