New Queens ordered

[Janemma]

Yesterday we did another inspection of both our hives.  They were installed on May 10th.  So this is three weeks and one day.

Again we did not see either Queen.  Again we did not see ANY eggs.  There were no signs of any larvae or capped brood at ALL.

The bees were busy building comb and there was plenty of pollen and honey.  They bees show no signs of being Queenless in that they are not melancholic or aggressive. There is no specific noise or display to hint of problems...they are going about their business as usual - as they have since they arrived - there hasnever been any sign of either hive being Queenless.  Both hives are very similar in this way. 

However,  with our very short Summer season, I am worried about waiting and waiting to find out that there are no Queens.  I realise I could wait another week and give them more time probably but the longer I leave it, the longer it is going to take for them to build their numbers before Winter.....thats what worries me most.  They need to build stores for winter here in Alberta.  So today we took the decision to order two new Queens. 

I'm still not sure I'm doing the right thing but I'm worried that If I leave it much longer then that will be wrong too so perhaps it's the lesser of the two evils......

I'm still surprised that with having TWO hives, that BOTH Queens didn't make it......what are the chances  :roll:  and I guess if the Queens are in there and are just taking their time, they will just fight it out???

[Moonshae]

Did you contact your package supplier first? They might replace the faulty queens at no charge to you.

[Janemma]

Did you contact your package supplier first? They might replace the faulty queens at no charge to you.

Well thats who we're getting them from and we haven't paid for them yet so we'll see what they say when we get there on Thursday...thanks...it's no biggy either way though....thats the least of my worries.  I'm more worried about whether we're doing the right thing or not :( 

[Moonshae]

Three weeks is pretty long to go without a laying queen from a package. Since package bees numbers tend to go down pretty quickly, you're better off getting the new ones.

Is there room for a queen to lay? You said there's plenty of pollen and honey...it's not in every drawn cell, is it?

[Janemma]

Three weeks is pretty long to go without a laying queen from a package. Since package bees numbers tend to go down pretty quickly, you're better off getting the new ones.

Is there room for a queen to lay? You said there's plenty of pollen and honey...it's not in every drawn cell, is it?

No not every drawn cell - they have plenty of space for eggs if they had a Queen who wanted to lay eggs.  I just don't understand how two hives could have lost Queens.  Both Queens were fine on arrival and both installations went fine.  Both hives 'seem' fine....but we've had dreadful weather...no pollen in the area until just recently and cold temps, rfosts and LOTS of rain, high winds.....I don't know if that effects it all but all in all they seem to have had a lot against them....The two central frames in each hive have a LOT of sugar syrup filled comb combined with pollen...but with the lack of pollen in the area and out short Summer season in this area it was recommend I continue to feed them....

The other frames have comb drawn out that has mainly pollen and some honey..as well as some sugar syrup honey capped...but still plenty of space for eggs if needed....and some comb untouched still being drawn up.

Maybe I should move the frames around?  When I put the new Queens in should I shuffle the frames around so the Queen has more cells to lay in? 

[johnnybigfish]

Hey Jane!
I got my first 2 packages last spring. I was in the same boat as you with one of my packages.
Ok,...First i had to wait 10 days to see how the bees were and if they had freed the queen...10 more days to see if she lived and started laying...She hadnt......Then the decision to whether i needed to get a new queen.....Then I ordered the queen......7 days later my queen is in the mailbox in an envelope. I was down to about 2 frames of bees by this time and they were really sad looking....What I did then after about another week was to move the hives around(Switch positions to make the foragers start working the other hives) You know, trick them ;)
And then I continued to feed them all summer...They are good healthy hives now.
I think youre doing the right thing and i bet you even have a better idea of what to do with the new queens after reading alot of bee stuff, huh? Maybe it will be a good idea to keep feeding them syrup like I did as long as they take it. I think you have plenty of time for them to store honey and become strong before winter! :)
  Can you believe how fast this summer is going by???

your friend,
john