bees balling queen

[rdy-b]

Ok ....what is balling the queen? Inquiring minds want to know.

  Honey Bee Queen Getting Balled in My Bare Hand (workers trying to kill the queen)     RDY-B

[ApalacheeRiverFarms]

checked the splits today... they seem to have accepted their queens (still caged), so I removed the cork from the candy end. they weren't aggressive towards either in the cage. I did notice maybe five or six queen cells in both splits with lots of royal jelly.  I hope I did the right thing in destroying all the queen cells and removing the larva. one split was much more populous than the other so I switched places with each other (side by side on the stand). each nuc box has a small 2"x3/8" entrance. I was out of town since Thursday night wen I put the cages in the nucs and had a heck of a time thurs getting all the attendants out. both queens looked active and ready to get to work so hopefully they'll dig her out ASAP. They had actually eaten through some of the candy from outside the cages.

[ApalacheeRiverFarms]

drive by the gives Sunday afternoon and the cotton was four feet tall and has spread out to fill the rows and is starting to bloom like mad!  Didn't have time to check them, but my cotton farmer buddy says it'll bloom through the end of the month and just increase the number of blooms til then. They were flying fast and furious that day. Plan on an inspection tomorrow. I've heard of people having to put on a super every week... Wondering and hoping with the blooms and all the rain we've been getting that I'll need to do the same!

[triple7sss]

At this point I feel safe in saying that really...only the drones should ever be balling the queen. :laugh: