She Made it Back!!

[biggraham610]

A couple weeks ago I noticed that my package hive was struggling. I went in last week and saw why, there was a hatched queen cell on the bottom rail. There were more bees than expected so I figured well, she might make it back. She is home in all her glory. Well, I can quit worrying about that one for a while and move on with the splits. Success feels great once in a while......... :chop:

[AliciaH]

Pretty girl!  Congratulations!

[biggraham610]

Thanks Alicia........ :-D

[OldMech]

Fat is the beekeepers sexy!!!    :-D

[MsCarol]

She sure is purty!!

Along those lines, how does one know if "she doesn't make it back"?

The hive of mine that swarmed a week ago Sunday seems awfully "noisy" both yesterday and today. Is that the "queenless roar"? It has only been a week. According to Michael Bush's Bee Math she might have just barely gone out to mate. This is a strong hive and the bees seem very restless. I have been expecting an afterswarm from this one so have been watching.

From a clucky old mother hen newbie beekeeper

[BeesPleese]

Can't handle dem wingz. <3

No but really I'm happy for you.

[biggraham610]

dont get it beesplease? :?

[biggraham610]

I was told to leave her alone for a while, did just that, went in Friday, and this is what I saw second frame in, third I didnt pull but could see it was capped and a good looking pattern. I love it when a plan comes together....G..... :chop:

[GSF]

...eggs and all!

[richter1978]

"I love it when a plan comes together"  Hannibal Smith
Awesome!

[biggraham610]

 :-D

[TenshiB]

I'm in Ms. Carol's boat.. How long DO you wait after you know your bees have swarmed?? I have a hive that has swarmed and we actually spotted the virgin queen the other day! She was scurrying all around (dark and mean-lookin') and it was pretty obvious that she was not mated yet.. I'm hoping the best for her, but this is a HUGE hive and don't know if I'll be able to find her on the next inspection and not sure WHEN to do the next inspection on this hive in particular because I don't want to mess her up.. Also, even though we spotted her, the bees in the hive were loud as ever.

[biggraham610]

I wish I had an answer but thats the first queen I have had return. I know I saw her on the 11th, and saw capped brood and eggs on the 23rd. If that helps. I still have three nucs and a swarm I have to check today. Hopefully I will find some good news. I do know that there are plenty of timelines availible if you check about queen rearing which will tell you time from laid, to capped, to hatch, to flight to laying. G

[TenshiB]

Thankya and congratulations--lucky dog!
I will be lookin' up "queen rearing timeline" on google now. It's been a bad year for my virgin queens so far. I blame the dragon flies. Found ~50 dragon flies in front of two of our weaker colonies just catching the poor girls in mid air and biting them and dropping the injured/dead bees to the ground! Not even eating the bees.. just killin' 'em! I managed to smack about 5 dragon flies to the ground with my hat and I crushed them.

I know I can't blame it all on dragon flies.. but it's a start! [=

[biggraham610]

Japanese Hornets are the Dragonfly here. On a better note, I went in the swarm hive today and found that she had started laying......Man what a relief. I thought she may have been the mother in that swarm but it must have been a virgin, they were hived 2 weeks, so Im assuming she went out got mated and returned home successfully. At any rate Im just glad to see eggs and 3-4 day old larvae. Going to get in the nucs tommorrow, I will report their success rate.  :chop:

[GSF]

biggraham; Japanese Hornets? Are these the ones whose sting is equivalent to a mild snake bite? I seen a segment once on tv. I think they were called Japanese Hornets. Any way, where ever a person was stung the venom rotted the muscle like snake bites. I'm thinking 4 or 5 stings and you may or may not make it.

[biggraham610]

biggraham; Japanese Hornets? Are these the ones whose sting is equivalent to a mild snake bite? I seen a segment once on tv. I think they were called Japanese Hornets. Any way, where ever a person was stung the venom rotted the muscle like snake bites. I'm thinking 4 or 5 stings and you may or may not make it.

Thats what we have always called them here they are 2+to 3+ inches long, dark yellow and black striped. They will come to the landing board of a weak hive and pick up a bee and fly off. I have been stung by one once when I was a kid, on the forehead, swelled both my eyes shut. I handle stings from all bees, wasps and yellow jackets pretty well, but I dont ever want another one of those, felt honestly like being hit square in the forehead with a hammer.

[TenshiB]

I got stung on the temple by a honey bee last year and it felt like someone had hit me there with a 2x4. Woke up and my eye was swollen shut... Here in GA, we have bald-faced hornets (black and white coloration) like the one in my avatar picture.. Got chased around my some last year and they managed to sting me THROUGH my dickies coveralls (not insulated) and T-shirt. But the WORST I have had was when a mahogany (a.k.a. red) wasp got me on the hand..... REALLY hurt my feelings.

[biggraham610]

Honeybees dont bother me that much. Yeah, I watched the girls ball a black and white hornet on the landing pad last year, the other ones are 4 times their size.

[biggraham610]

When I got back I couldnt gelp but check on the swarm hive, When I saw eggs and young brood, it was very little, last week, checked this evening and in my travels found plenty of brood, capped and uncapped, and......her. My second open mated queen of the season.  :chop: