New Bee - more beginners questions

[jester7891]

I open the hives for the fourth time today (my first two sets of bees came on April 15).  Whoever suggested starting with two hives was right on target as the comparisons have been very helpful.  The first hive was very active and I saw one egg in each cell, larvae and lots of capped cells.  There also seemed to be a lot more bees than before.  Seven of 10 frames were filled approximately 10 days ago and now the bees are working on the second chamber. I did not see the queen but everything else looked pretty good.  I think I have a problem with the second hive though.

Approximately 6 ½ frames were completed last time (although the frames were never as full as the first hive).  Today there were only approximately eight frames completed; very spotty.  I did see one egg in a number of cells but very few larvae. I did not see a queen.  What I did notice was that about 35-40% of the bees had big eyes (drones?).  I did not notice this on the first hive but I wasn't looking for it. There are far less bees in this hive.

Do I have a worker laying eggs and if so should I be ordering another queen?  If I have to requeen, is it more or less the same procedure as before putting the cage in and letting the bees eat out the candy etc? 

I am also concerned about when I put the frames back in their position. There seems to be such little room and I'm concerned about squeezing the bees as I push the frames together. Once again, thanks for your comments and suggestions.
                                                                Jester 

[Greg Peck]

Hi Jester. You did not mention seeing any capped brood. Do you or did you have any, the cells would be capped for approx 10 days before the bees emerge. If you have not had any capped brood then none of your bees have emerged so they could not contribute to your abundance of drones.

If you got these bees from a package maybe the one package had a lot of drones which could contribute to slower build up. But sometimes some hives are just slower then others. Also when worker cells are capped they are flat or level with the rest of the comb, drone cells are raised (you can definitely see the difference). With a laying worker or failing queen there will be lots drone cells among the worker cells. There is always a good amount of drone brood at the bottom of the frames, so dont get concerned about that.

Regarding putting frames back it. The safest way to do it is to remove a one of the outside frames (1st or 10th frame) first. Take it out and lean it against the side/front of the hive. Then you can separate the frames with your hive tool which will give you space to pull them out. When you are done inspecting the hive and are ready to put the 10th frame back in put your hive tool against the 9th frame and hive body and pry the 9 frames together which should give you plenty of room to put the last frame back in. Some bees will get squished while inspecting hives, you just have to be careful not to make one of them the queen. Just go slow.

If you have a laying worker you will see cells with 3 or more eggs in them, and they will be on the sides of the cell instead of at the bottom of the cell. If you single eggs in the bottom center of cells then you probably dont have laying workers. If you do have laying workers there is a different process to get them back queen right. Search the forum for laying workers. 

Drones do have bigger eyes then the workers and they touch in the center of their head. They are noticeably bigger then the other bees.

[JP]

There's not much more I would add to Greg's response.

35-40% drones is an aweful lot in a colony. Are you sure you're not possibly exaggerating a bit?

Yes, check this colony for cells with multiple eggs in the sides, not the bottom, as a laying worker can't get them to the bottom like a queen will.

Also, check for supercedure cells, you could have a queen that is shooting blanks. Try placing a brood frame from your other colony in this hive and see what happens, they may build queen cells.


...JP

[Michael Bush]

If you've got more worker brood than drone brood, I wouldn't sweat it.  If you have more drone brood then worker brood you have a definite problem.  If you have no worker brood, you REALLY have a problem.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm