Should I replace my queen?

[marcus finnley]

I have a caniolan queen and I'm concerned that she is not laying enough.  She is making nice semicircle brood patterns, but not that many.  Last Thursday I checked and there were only two frames (front and back) with capped brood.  I couldn't see any eggs, but that is not uncommon for me as I never do (I've read the light suggestions, just haven't tried them yet.).  They have very good stores of honey and pollen, so I don't think that is the problem or if there is a problem at all.  I've also witnessed a couple of fake swarming attempts.  Bees will start to cling to the outside of the hive while others swarm around the hive.  It is different behavior than bearding which I've seen and too cold for it anyway.  My only other guess would be orientation flights.  But if they are failed swarming attempts that would indicate the queen if failing right? 

The reason I'm asking is I can get a mated queen on Saturday for $25 and I don't know if that would be the right or wrong thing to do.  Any tips?

Thanks

[blu...@madtown.net]

HI Marcus, 

 Carniiolans are slow to build up in the spring and that may be all you are seeing.

Is this a new queen from a package swarm?  If it is, I would give her some more time. If you can see young larvae she may be alright yet.  If she is making a solid brood pattern but it is small she may not have enough bees to expand the nest yet.    She most likely won't swarm on  you.  

A failing queen won't cause them to swarm.

If they are that weak they won't swarm  and if the queen is failing they will start supercedure queen cells. 

If this is an overwintered queen,  you see queen  cells and you don't see any larvae,  it wouldn't hurt to replace her. Make sure you don't have a queen  or queen cells when you install a new one.   Leave the new queen, alone in the cage, (no workers) for 3 to 5 days between the brood frames so the hive bees can access her through the screen. 

Dale

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[Kurt Runzheimer]

Can you post a picture of the brood frames?  It sounds like they are just slow which is happening this year--especially if there's only enough workers to cover the brood.  Give it time, as things can pick up exponentially soon (assuming a healthy brood pattern).  If you have some real strong colonies, giving them a frame of workers (no queen!) and capped brood every week can really help pick things up.

Kurt

On May 15, 2013, at 3:21 PM, blu...@madtown.net wrote:

HI Marcus, 

 Carniiolans are slow to build up in the spring and that may be all you are seeing.

Is this a new queen from a package swarm?  If it is, I would give her some more time. If you can see young larvae she may be alright yet.  If she is making a solid brood pattern but it is small she may not have enough bees to expand the nest yet.    She most likely won't swarm on  you.  

A failing queen won't cause them to swarm.

If they are that weak they won't swarm  and if the queen is failing they will start supercedure queen cells. 

If this is an overwintered queen,  you see queen  cells and you don't see any larvae,  it wouldn't hurt to replace her. Make sure you don't have a queen  or queen cells when you install a new one.   Leave the new queen, alone in the cage, (no workers) for 3 to 5 days between the brood frames so the hive bees can access her through the screen. 

Dale

 

On Wed, 15 May 2013 10:47:44 -0700 (PDT), marcus finnley <marcus....@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a caniolan queen and I'm concerned that she is not laying enough.  She is making nice semicircle brood patterns, but not that many.  Last Thursday I checked and there were only two frames (front and back) with capped brood.  I couldn't see any eggs, but that is not uncommon for me as I never do (I've read the light suggestions, just haven't tried them yet.).  They have very good stores of honey and pollen, so I don't think that is the problem or if there is a problem at all.  I've also witnessed a couple of fake swarming attempts.  Bees will start to cling to the outside of the hive while others swarm around the hive.  It is different behavior than bearding which I've seen and too cold for it anyway.  My only other guess would be orientation flights.  But if they are failed swarming attempts that would indicate the queen if failing right?  

The reason I'm asking is I can get a mated queen on Saturday for $25 and I don't know if that would be the right or wrong thing to do.  Any tips?

Thanks

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[jeanne hansen]

When boxes are pried apart this time of year, and drone larva are exposed, they are fat and fresh and white.  This is the time of year to eat a few, to see what they taste like.  Don't cringe!  There are people who eat and treasure larva as a food.  They have a very mild flavor.  Some people say they are good mixed into omelet.  You haven't experienced all there is in life if you never tasted a larva.

 

Jeanne Hansen

824 Jacobson Ave

Madison, WI 53714

608-244-5094

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From: marcus finnley <marcus....@gmail.com>
To: mad...@googlegroups.com
Cc: kurt.ru...@me.com
Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 11:27 AM
Subject: Re: [madbees] Should I replace my queen?

Success!! And many thanks to those that responded or read and saw the proper responses were already there. 

Doing nothing is hard especially when you hear how well other peoples hives are doing, but I did nothing.  I checked my hive yesterday and saw 6 frames of capped brood front and back between my two deep brood chambers.  This is the first time the queen has moved between them of her on free will.  So that was a success.  I also saw a couple drones and more drone cells.  They are bridging with drone cells in bur comb between the two hive bodies.  I take out the bur comb so that my bees don't turn the hive into a brick.  Many drone larva/pupa die in the process which I feel bad about, but I leave it on the top board so the bees clean it out and keep the protein.  Maybe this will keep my mite levels down. 

I also got a second single deep Saturday and they seem to be doing well.  Having two hives should make beekeeping a little easier.

On Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:11:14 PM UTC-5, Kurt Runzheimer wrote:

Can you post a picture of the brood frames?  It sounds like they are just slow which is happening this year--especially if there's only enough workers to cover the brood.  Give it time, as things can pick up exponentially soon (assuming a healthy brood pattern).  If you have some real strong colonies, giving them a frame of workers (no queen!) and capped brood every week can really help pick things up.

Kurt

On May 15, 2013, at 3:21 PM, blu...@madtown.net wrote:

HI Marcus, 

 Carniiolans are slow to build up in the spring and that may be all you are seeing.

Is this a new queen from a package swarm?  If it is, I would give her some more time. If you can see young larvae she may be alright yet.  If she is making a solid brood pattern but it is small she may not have enough bees to expand the nest yet.    She most likely won't swarm on  you.  

A failing queen won't cause them to swarm.

If they are that weak they won't swarm  and if the queen is failing they will start supercedure queen cells. 

If this is an overwintered queen,  you see queen  cells and you don't see any larvae,  it wouldn't hurt to replace her. Make sure you don't have a queen  or queen cells when you install a new one.   Leave the new queen, alone in the cage, (no workers) for 3 to 5 days between the brood frames so the hive bees can access her through the screen. 

Dale

 

On Wed, 15 May 2013 10:47:44 -0700 (PDT), marcus finnley <marcus....@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a caniolan queen and I'm concerned that she is not laying enough.  She is making nice semicircle brood patterns, but not that many.  Last Thursday I checked and there were only two frames (front and back) with capped brood.  I couldn't see any eggs, but that is not uncommon for me as I never do (I've read the light suggestions, just haven't tried them yet.).  They have very good stores of honey and pollen, so I don't think that is the problem or if there is a problem at all.  I've also witnessed a couple of fake swarming attempts.  Bees will start to cling to the outside of the hive while others swarm around the hive.  It is different behavior than bearding which I've seen and too cold for it anyway.  My only other guess would be orientation flights.  But if they are failed swarming attempts that would indicate the queen if failing right?  

The reason I'm asking is I can get a mated queen on Saturday for $25 and I don't know if that would be the right or wrong thing to do.  Any tips?

Thanks

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