Here's a nice diagram (if it's yours, please let me know and I will gladly add the credit)
Showing posts with label queen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label queen. Show all posts
05 June 2019
07 April 2019
07 March 2019
Queen survival - see Chris Slade's Bee Blog
A bit late in the day (OK, two months after his original post), some enlightening stats from Chris Slade: https://chrissladesbeeblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/22/queen-survival/
Chris' records show that his queens are in his care for an average of 2.28 years (two years three months). As he points out, the actual lifetimes will be longer, because some queens will be swarm arrivals and some will push off in a swarm and may live on for another few years.
https://chrissladesbeeblog.wordpress.com/
Chris' records show that his queens are in his care for an average of 2.28 years (two years three months). As he points out, the actual lifetimes will be longer, because some queens will be swarm arrivals and some will push off in a swarm and may live on for another few years.
https://chrissladesbeeblog.wordpress.com/
06 July 2010
Schadenfreude
A fellow beekeeper, immeasurably more competent than I, accidentally killed his queen. The bees subsequently brought on a few queen cells to create a replacement. When he inspected the hive, he tore down all but one new queen cell... which he then broke as he reassembled the hive.
There but for the guilt of schadenfreude....
There but for the guilt of schadenfreude....
04 May 2009
Regina Mortuous Est? Vivat Regina!
Despite my reshuffle of the boxes on my last visit, I discovered that there are still larvae above the queen excluder in Hive Bravo.
(See http://mellifera.blogspot.com/2008/06/time-will-tell.html and following. Do you ever get the feeling that history is repeating itself?)
Owing to stupendous incompetence, my last visit (see http://mellifera.blogspot.com/2009/04/chancing-it-yet-again.html) failed to solve the problem. On today's visit, in effect I moved the excluder rather than messing about with individual boxes, and swapped everything top to bottom. I am fairly confident that her majesty is now below the excluder.
Incompetent coda: Though these are WBC hives, I have a couple of second-hand National boxes (they kind-of fit) with no castellation lugs and the frames to not have spacer tabs, either. When I picked up the first box the loose frames all slid down together, concertina-style, squishing lots of bees and, possibly killing the queen, too.
If that's the case, let's trust in good weather and the bees' instinct to re-queen. Regina Mortuous Est? Vivat Regina!
Super photo from http://www.beemaster.com/site/honeybee/qpage.htm a really useful site.
13 April 2009
Chancing it, yet again!
Checked the two hives today, and found that both are busy and have active queens.... except that in one hive she is above the excluder.
With limited time - my excuse is the arrival of a new daughter, 23 March - I reshuffled the supers and trust to luck that I have moved the queen below the excluder in the process.
Time will tell.
19 March 2009
Timbals, stridulation and Scrabble
Well here's an oddity - which I forgot to report: when opened, I can hear a distinct, low thrumming from inside one of the hives!
The sound is similar-ish to the sound of a dove, but faster and lower.
Could it be a mouse? There is no sign of mice, and the anti-mouse bars were closed all winter (and still are).
Could it be the queen? Various bee books refer to the queen making cicada-like sounds. Do queens have timbals? Can they stridulate?
Competitive Scrabble, anyone?
Pic from wikipedia, more about Scrabble at http://www.scrabble.com/
12 July 2008
Now I am *utterly* baffled
To recap: the single original hive had larvae both above and below the queen excluder, so I moved half the frames into a new hive, and (re)placed queen excluders on top of both. The aim was to split the original confused colony into two hives, and hope that the bees would re-queen as necessary.
Well ... it seems to have worked. I now have two thriving colonies. And yet bizarrely, I could find absolutely no trace of brood in either hive.
After a full hive inspection - right down to the bottom board and looking at every frame - I saw no larvae. No drone cells. No queen cells. Yet the bees are very busy, and I even took four frames of honey out of each hive.
What on earth is going on? Now I am *utterly* baffled.
Well ... it seems to have worked. I now have two thriving colonies. And yet bizarrely, I could find absolutely no trace of brood in either hive.
After a full hive inspection - right down to the bottom board and looking at every frame - I saw no larvae. No drone cells. No queen cells. Yet the bees are very busy, and I even took four frames of honey out of each hive.
What on earth is going on? Now I am *utterly* baffled.
25 June 2008
Time will tell
During the madness of jumbling up the supers and brood frames, my ultimate solution was to split the colony. Failing to think on my feet, I choose to put half of the frames in a new hive, working on the basis of creating an artificial swarm. The basic idea was to end up with one original hive (with a queen) and one new hive (with no queen).
All wonderful. Except I totally forgot to check that the 'new' colony had either queen cells or sufficiently young larvae to allow the bees to bring on a new queen.
Bugger.
Time will tell.
Super photo from http://www.beemaster.com/site/honeybee/qpage.htm a really useful site.
16 June 2008
Mastermind
OK, see if you can solve this one.
On Sunday, I looked through the hive with the usual objectives - enough room, queen present, stores - and with a view to taking off some honey. The hive boxes are arranged as follows (from the bottom up): brood, brood, QE, super, super, super, super.
Apart from the fact the the hive is choc-a-bloc with bees and honey, I found capped brood in *all* the supers - *and* in both of the brood boxes. What are the possible reasons for this? I figure they could be:
Two queens, one above the QE and one below
One queen, small enough to wriggle through the QE
Laying workers going bonkers because there is no queen
Plus one hideous final possibility hit me, after I had closed up the hive and gone home with puzzled expression ... I leave this up to you, gentle reader, to figure out.
Pic stolen from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game)
07 June 2008
She's in there somewhere, the minx
Complete hive inspection with the aim of finding and marking the queen, plus checking for swarm cells.
The place is groaning with sealed brood and seething with bees. I found a few small queen cell cups, but did not have time to check every frame. Although there is plenty of room in both brood and supers, I have a bad feeling about swarming.
With the hive in bits all around me, I lifted each brood frame out in turn... could I find the queen? Could I buggery. She's in there somewhere, the minx.
The place is groaning with sealed brood and seething with bees. I found a few small queen cell cups, but did not have time to check every frame. Although there is plenty of room in both brood and supers, I have a bad feeling about swarming.
With the hive in bits all around me, I lifted each brood frame out in turn... could I find the queen? Could I buggery. She's in there somewhere, the minx.
12 May 2008
Just when you thought Incompetence was dwindling
Super-fast check of the hive ... took each super off in turn and looked for capped brood... and sure enough, there are emerging bees in the super immediately above the queen excluder. In other words, the queen must be above (rather than below) the QE.
As usual, I could not find the queen, despite plenty of looking (and four stings). On the basis that the queen is where the brood cells are, I moved the super with the brood below the QE.
(Being a WBC hive, I have been advised that a single brood box is probably not big enough, and it is better to have both a brood box and a super below the QE. This arrangement is known as a "brood and a half," a phrase I trot out to encourage the belief that I know what I am doing.)
In conclusion, I noticed that here were *lots* of bees, so added another super to the top. The hive now has a brood & super below the QE, plus three supers on top.
Now I come to write this up, I realise that there appear to be lots of bees because they are all in the supers and not in the brood box.
Just when you thought Incompetence was dwindling, it rears its confused head!
As usual, I could not find the queen, despite plenty of looking (and four stings). On the basis that the queen is where the brood cells are, I moved the super with the brood below the QE.
(Being a WBC hive, I have been advised that a single brood box is probably not big enough, and it is better to have both a brood box and a super below the QE. This arrangement is known as a "brood and a half," a phrase I trot out to encourage the belief that I know what I am doing.)
In conclusion, I noticed that here were *lots* of bees, so added another super to the top. The hive now has a brood & super below the QE, plus three supers on top.
Now I come to write this up, I realise that there appear to be lots of bees because they are all in the supers and not in the brood box.
Just when you thought Incompetence was dwindling, it rears its confused head!
04 May 2008
What the beekeeper did
Well, Thank You Phil!
While I was on holiday, Phil captured the (enormous) swarm and popped them into the hive! Great work. I must go away more often.
I visited this evening, and found the bees in fine form. Curiously, the girls have set up home all crammed down one side of the hive (see pic), leaving the central frames and opposite frames untouched.
Looking through the brood frames, I could see no larvae or capped cells. It could be that the queen is above the excluder, or that she has not had enough time to lay. Will revisit.
While I was on holiday, Phil captured the (enormous) swarm and popped them into the hive! Great work. I must go away more often.
I visited this evening, and found the bees in fine form. Curiously, the girls have set up home all crammed down one side of the hive (see pic), leaving the central frames and opposite frames untouched.
Looking through the brood frames, I could see no larvae or capped cells. It could be that the queen is above the excluder, or that she has not had enough time to lay. Will revisit.
23 July 2007
Peering in every nook and cranny
The regional bee inspector, David Rudland, pointed out during a recent visit that I had a super box where a brood box should be, and vice-versa. D'oh!What I hadn't realised was that the spacing of frames in brood boxes and supers is different. To encourage bees to produce and store more honey, frames in supers are further apart - and muggins here had them all jumbled up.
So I swapped the boxes around. What was the topmost super is now the half-brood (above the main brood box), what was the super formerly used as a half-brood is now the first super (on top of the brood-and-a-half), and what was the first super on top of the brood-and-a-half is now the topmost super.
Got it?
Since I was moving a super-used-as-brood, I wanted to be sure that the Queen was not on or in the box when I moved it, or she would end up in the wrong place. Naturally, I couldn't find her, despite peering in every nook and cranny.
More next week when I return to insert crown boards and bee escapes so I can take off my first ever honey. I'll soon find out if the Queen is in the wrong place!
15 June 2007
Did you end up requeening then?
Mark posted a comment asking if I had re-queened the colony.
No. After the second swarm (the cast), we left a single queen cell only. This queen must have emerged and mated successfully, as the hive is now thriving again. There is new brood in a good regular pattern, and the number of bees is increasing.
Phew!
No. After the second swarm (the cast), we left a single queen cell only. This queen must have emerged and mated successfully, as the hive is now thriving again. There is new brood in a good regular pattern, and the number of bees is increasing.
Phew!
16 April 2007
You would never know they had swarmed
You would never know that the bees had just swarmed; the hive is still absolutely full to bursting. The top photo is the super, the next is the brood, and the last is a queen cell (well, I think it's a queen cell...)
14 April 2007
PUFO
After this week's swarming debacle, tomorrow is the first inspection of the depleted hive. Who needs Colony Collapse Disorder when the bees PUFO* of their own accord, eh?
From the outside, the hive looks as busy as ever. I could be lucky, and find that the remaining bees have re-queened themselves, and that she has flown off and mated. Everything could be both hunky and dory.
On the other hand, the workers might have started laying, the new queen might not be mated, or a cast (sort of mini-swarm) might be in preparation. Or there may be too few bees remaining for a viable colony, and they will simply dwindle away.
Naturally, if the ringleader is still in the hive, I'll have to give her a darn sharp talking-to.
*Pack Up and Fly Off, a well-known beekeeping term.
From the outside, the hive looks as busy as ever. I could be lucky, and find that the remaining bees have re-queened themselves, and that she has flown off and mated. Everything could be both hunky and dory.
On the other hand, the workers might have started laying, the new queen might not be mated, or a cast (sort of mini-swarm) might be in preparation. Or there may be too few bees remaining for a viable colony, and they will simply dwindle away.
Naturally, if the ringleader is still in the hive, I'll have to give her a darn sharp talking-to.
*Pack Up and Fly Off, a well-known beekeeping term.
09 April 2007
Time to read up
Along with Colony Collapse Disorder and the Spring Dwindling, I had been expecting the hive to be less busy, or even dead... No way!
During an early inspection this hot Easter weekend (8am - the bees fairly sluggish), I found (a) bees building comb up the outside of the hive between the lifts and the boxes, (b) the super with foundation added last week almost completely built up into comb and (c) the brood and super, acting as a combined brood box, absolutely jammed with brood.
This was a full inspection, right down to brushing the hive floor, examining the brood comb and generally sorting out stuff. As far as I can tell, the main problem is that there is no problem. They are BUZZING!
Time to read up on what's happening. I have a sneaky feeling that they are about to swarm. Lots of drone cells, though I could not find any queen cells. To keep them busy, I have replaced one brood frame with a new blank frame of foundation.
Disappointingly little comedy Incompetence. I managed to gas myself with the smoker, with no effect on the bees, and several times had to traipse back to the shed having forgotten some key piece of equipment. No pictures this time, I forgot the camera.
During an early inspection this hot Easter weekend (8am - the bees fairly sluggish), I found (a) bees building comb up the outside of the hive between the lifts and the boxes, (b) the super with foundation added last week almost completely built up into comb and (c) the brood and super, acting as a combined brood box, absolutely jammed with brood.
This was a full inspection, right down to brushing the hive floor, examining the brood comb and generally sorting out stuff. As far as I can tell, the main problem is that there is no problem. They are BUZZING!
Time to read up on what's happening. I have a sneaky feeling that they are about to swarm. Lots of drone cells, though I could not find any queen cells. To keep them busy, I have replaced one brood frame with a new blank frame of foundation.
Disappointingly little comedy Incompetence. I managed to gas myself with the smoker, with no effect on the bees, and several times had to traipse back to the shed having forgotten some key piece of equipment. No pictures this time, I forgot the camera.
16 August 2006
Sticking the bees in the hive
My hive is a WBC, the traditional-looking version with the slanted sides. The hive takes eight or nine (too busy to count) frames, and the bees arrived in a brood box from a National hive, which has one more frame than mine.
When the bees had calmed down, the first job was to take out one frame and make room to transfer all the others, inspecting them as we went, looking for the queen to make sure we had transferred her successfully.
First thing you notice - it's *very* hot in a full bee suit, even more so if you're a novice.
Eventually we found the queen, who was clutching on to the side of the old hive. Had we not found her, we might easily have left her outside.
Peter picked her up in a queen clip (a bit like a large hair clip, with enough room to let worker bees in and out, though not the queen) and then isolated her with a queen cage so he could mark her with a white dot.
The trick is to pick her up with the clip, then pop her back on a frame and trap her with the cage so you can mark her. In our case, Peter dropped her onto the frame - and she was off! She scarpered! I know I live near Wimbledon Dog Track, but this was ridiculous! Luckily we found her and marked her.
When the bees had calmed down, the first job was to take out one frame and make room to transfer all the others, inspecting them as we went, looking for the queen to make sure we had transferred her successfully.
First thing you notice - it's *very* hot in a full bee suit, even more so if you're a novice.
Eventually we found the queen, who was clutching on to the side of the old hive. Had we not found her, we might easily have left her outside.
Peter picked her up in a queen clip (a bit like a large hair clip, with enough room to let worker bees in and out, though not the queen) and then isolated her with a queen cage so he could mark her with a white dot.
The trick is to pick her up with the clip, then pop her back on a frame and trap her with the cage so you can mark her. In our case, Peter dropped her onto the frame - and she was off! She scarpered! I know I live near Wimbledon Dog Track, but this was ridiculous! Luckily we found her and marked her.
