Queen Got Bigger...Why?

mobepaw · August 15, 2007, 11:08:21 PM

Hi everyone I'm new to the message boards and a fairly new beekeeper. I was hoping someone could help me out and answer this question for me. My Hive went queenless and I ordered a new queen which was released on August 5th. This queen was very small, about the size of a worker. The only way I could tell it was here is that she is marked. Anyway, I went in to check the hive this past Saturday and there were no eggs or larva. So I figured my queen was not mated. I changed out a hive box today due to a wax moth problem and I noticed, to my surprise she doubled, maybe even a little more than doubled in in length. What I want to know...has she gotten bigger because maybe she finally mated and is filling with eggs? Maybe that is a silly question but I am trying to figure this out. My hive is severely dwindling with bees and I am trying to decide whether to combine it with my other hive. order a new queen (place I bought it from said they would replace her), or just let it be and see what happens. The question I need answered to figure out what to do is why the Queen got bigger. Thanks

MrILoveTheAnts · August 15, 2007, 11:18:50 PM

She got bigger probably because she is better fed now. Eggs can be incredably hard to spot in cells even on a frame full of them. As of now you should have larva in the hive, so do one last check. If you don't see any brood then consider replacing her.

Kathyp · August 15, 2007, 11:22:01 PM

sometimes it takes a queen a bit to start laying. are you feeding, or is there a flow? give her a little time. i had a real slowdown this year and thought my new queen was not laying. just took her a bit to get going.

CWBees · August 15, 2007, 11:25:53 PM

It sounds like they sent you a virgin queen. Did you order a virgin queen?

mobepaw · August 16, 2007, 12:21:20 AM

I purchased her mated. She is a Minnesota Hygenic. There is deffinently no larva or brood. I decidede to feed syrup and a pattie becasue the hive had recently been stresed with wax moths and ants. I reduced the number of boxes to one so they can better manage it. The number of bees are dwindling fast because there has been no queen. The amount of bees left is about a half of a super. That is why I need to decide what to do quickly. If she got bigger becasue she recently mated and is about to start laying then I would let it be and give it a chance. If she got bigger for some other reason I need to combine it with my other hive or order a new queen immediately.

Kathyp · August 16, 2007, 12:44:27 AM

why don't you give that hive some brood and workers from your other hive? that will buy you time.

MrILoveTheAnts · August 16, 2007, 12:50:57 AM

Well if there is any hope of this queen laying then you could give the hive a full frame of capped cells from one of your other hives. This will transfer mites and diseases if present but at least it will give your hive a fresh batch of workers.
If the person who sold it to you is willing to replace this queen free of charge then it doesn't sound like they have much faith in their product, and it might not always be something they can control. Not sure what to tell you.

mobepaw · August 17, 2007, 01:01:24 AM

Thanks for your responses. I can't take brood from the other hive as the brood is all on deeps and the hive with the growing queen are supers. I'm trying to go with all supers. I think it is fairly common for Bee Suppliers to replace there queens free of charge if something is wrong. I'm very exhausted from work tonight and will make a decision on Saturday as to what I will do. I'm hoping to get a swarm from someone. Anyway, I'll keep you posted and if anyone else is reading this and has any idea why my queen would double in size I would appreciate your input. Thanks

JP · August 17, 2007, 04:34:44 PM

Mobepaw, could have been a virgin queen, but why would a breeder send you a marked virgin? That doesn't sound right. You did say however that she looked small when you got her, which could be indicative of a virgin queen, and she hasn't been laying, but... a point which has been made already is whether you are in a dearth and if so have you been feeding this hive? Another point is how was this queen mated? Perhaps artificial insemination that wasn't successful. Whatever the case, I would be concerned as well. Let that breeder send you a new one asap! A good business person will customarily want you to be happy, and it is customary for a breeder to send you a new queen if the one they sent you isn't working out from the get go. Good luck!!

CWBees · August 17, 2007, 07:47:44 PM

I would transfer this hive into deeps so you can feed capped brood from your other hives into it or I would swap location of your weak hive with a strong hive to boost the population. I recently took my marked Carniolan queen from my observation hive and placed her in a weak queenless hive in my bee yard. The observation hive was getting way to crowded. I have been feeding capped brood into the weak hive to try and boost the population and give the queen a good supply of nurse bees to take care of her brood. I don't want her held back in her brood production due to lack of nurse bees. I also don't want the hive robbed.