Re. Queen.

slacker361 · July 10, 2010, 04:05:42 PM

My hive re queened last inspection was 3 weeks ago and the queen I had was from the nuc I purchased so she had a green dot on her. I saw the queen today and no green dot. So she either died or the hive had her wacked Anyway the hive looks to be doing very well with the new queen

AllenF · July 10, 2010, 04:15:12 PM

3 weeks old and laying? The hive already had a queen to start with or queen cells ready to hatch when you put the marked queen in there.

slacker361 · July 10, 2010, 04:19:27 PM

No no the queen marked was grom the nuc that I got his spring I am assuming she was replaced three weeks ago because the queen I have now has no mark on her. Unless the mark fell off. But there is tons of brood in the hive. The hive seems stronger than it ever has.

iddee · July 10, 2010, 04:28:15 PM

Sounds like they removed her mark. They do that quite often.

Kathyp · July 10, 2010, 05:32:21 PM

yup. once upon a time i got stupid and paid for marked queens. mark was gone within a couple of weeks. worry only about the quality of this queen. if she's doing a good job, don't sweat it.

BjornBee · July 10, 2010, 07:59:12 PM

You as the beekeeper should be evaluating your queen upon every inspection or visit into the hive. Whether she has a mark, had a mark, or never had a mark, it comes down to what the queen is doing for the one you are looking at. It's great you found the unmarked queen. I bet it was not that bad. Sounds like your beyond any need to mark queens. :-D

Michael Bush · July 11, 2010, 03:30:35 AM

But if I don't know if she's two weeks old or two years old I don't know if the state of the hive is really due to her or her mother. I don't know if she's a second queen, a new queen, or the old queen. How do I measure the value of a queen whose offspring have never overwintered?

BjornBee · July 11, 2010, 09:07:56 AM

Quote from: Michael Bush on July 11, 2010, 03:30:35 AM
But if I don't know if she's two weeks old or two years old I don't know if the state of the hive is really due to her or her mother. I don't know if she's a second queen, a new queen, or the old queen. How do I measure the value of a queen whose offspring have never overwintered?

It takes 12 days for a queen to develop and emerge. OK, maybe 11 since you have smallcell... :-D )

Then it takes 2-5 days for the queen to mate, another few days till she starts laying. So the whole process is perhaps longer than 21 days, some suggesting up to 30 days. And the brood break is clearly seen between the old queen and the new queen. I think it's rather easy to see the transition over to the new queen and there are many signs in the hive. Of course this is based on a beekeeper looking into the hive every three or four weeks, and reading brood pattern, comb, etc. If the beekeeper is not going in that often (every 3-4 weeks), then does it really matter to know much more than what is being presented to you? Most still evaluate what is going on at the time they enter the hive. Mother/daughter...as long as they have a laying queen, they are happy.

Beekeepers going in hives more often should be able to see telltake signs of queen cells, etc. If they are just focused on finding a marked queen, I would bet they just might miss the other details of the hive, which can tell you much.

MB...I bet your much more in tune with your bees and anything a painted spot can tell you, can easily be obtained without that spot. And that is one of the "points" I have always said about those who keep successful operations regardless of their use of smallcell, or anything else. It is their attention to detail and commitment to knowing what is happening in the hive that is the most important key element. Which is why I think marked queens, beyond any possibility of damage, is a crutch used by beekeepers to find queens easily, and would be better served never having a marked queen and instead being taught what is happening in the hive.