Please check my math - time to buy a Queen?

Dabbler · June 13, 2016, 08:03:24 AM

Long story short:
New colony being raised from a Nuc. I only have one colony.

"Let" colony get honey bound and they swarmed.
22 May - Found multiple sealed Queen cells on the frame bottoms
4 Jun - Queen cells were open and empty
11 Jun - No eggs or larve seen in any cells

If my math is correct the Queen should be laying by now. Should I assume she never made it back from the mating flight and buy a replacement or give it another week?

iddee · June 13, 2016, 08:22:08 AM

Recheck your math, then give her another week to 10 days.

GSF · June 13, 2016, 08:27:45 AM

I'm like Iddee. I usually go about a month before I worry about the queen. If you're worried about laying workers then pull a frame of open brood(make sure the queen isn't on it) from another hive and put it in there. Good luck.

Dabbler · June 13, 2016, 08:41:51 AM

Great - that is reassuring.
Thank you both.

So, to help me in the future, where did my "cyphering" go wrong?
From M. Bush's Bee Math :
Caste Hatch Cap Emerge
Queen 3? days 8 days +-1 16 days +-2 Laying 28 days +-5
...If you find a capped queen cell, how long before you should see eggs from that queen? 20 days.

Am I just not accounting for the +-5 days for the Queen's 28 days ?

iddee · June 13, 2016, 08:48:52 AM

May 22, capped cells. "Day 10??"" June 1, day 20? June 11, Day 30? Yes, 35 days is not uncommon, but going through 10 or 20 frames and missing the first few eggs laid by a new queen is more common. Another week will possibly produce enough eggs and larva to find much easier.

Dabbler · June 13, 2016, 08:53:32 AM

Gottcha ! Thanks again

. . . . another week of nail biting and hand wringing. . . . Penance for my newbie mismanagement.

Michael Bush · June 13, 2016, 11:24:44 AM

If you had capped cells on the 22nd they emerged at least by the 30th of May. Three weeks is the drop dead date after which any queen will become a drone layer so that's the 20th of June.

BeeMaster2 · June 13, 2016, 12:50:26 PM

Dabbler,
I saw my new queen in my observation hive right after she hatched. I waited 11 days and could not find any eggs. I quickly added one frame of brood and a couple of days later I could see 2 day old larvae on several frames. Sometimes they are hard to see. Even harder to see through glass.

Jim

Dabbler · June 13, 2016, 03:49:24 PM

Michael & Jim - thanks for the added reassurance.
I guess I am caught between wanting to "help" and letting bees be bees.
Relax and Hands off for another week it is.

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