Queen Laying Two Eggs per Cell

[Ruby Kimberly]

I have a tiny hive from a small swarm I caught last summer. They have remained pretty much the same size or slightly smaller since I got them and occupy just a few frames in a medium ten frame box. They have always appeared hygienic but underproductive and went into the winter with hardly any honey at all. I kept them on sugar water through the rainy season and miraculously they survived. I expected them to take off when the weather warmed and the nectar began to flow but nope... it's the same as it ever was. Then, when inspecting today, I noticed that the queen has taken to laying two eggs per cell. It is not a laying worker situation as I see her in there. They do have more honey than before and I wonder if it's for lack of empty comb, but why aren't they making more comb? And, what will become of those eggs that are doubled up?? It seemed to be like that in pretty much every egg cell I saw so I fear this is the end if those are unviable. Any advice or insight is much appreciated.

Thanks!

Ruby

[Mimi Edwards]

Did you mark your Queen?  Is it a new Queen (later season swarm catches often keep poor laying Queen through winter until weather gets nice and then they would reQueen).   The fact that they are slightly smaller could be sign natural loss through reQueening process.  New Queens often lay wrong in the beginning until she gets the hang of it.  Mark her and give her a few weeks to see if she starts laying better.  After two weeks if she is still laying poorly, I would reQueen.  

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[Jennifer Radtke]

You haven't specified how tiny the hive is, but if it under 5 frames of bees, they are going to have a hard time growing.  It's hard for them to thermoregulate or keep their brood at 95 degrees constantly.  It's also hard for them to send out foragers as they are occupied taking care of the brood (feeding & keeping at 95 degrees).  To help them out and get them to grow, I'd recommend two things:  an insulation board in the top (to prevent heat from escaping above) and feeding bits of pollen patty (1 inch x 1 inch pieces) every week.  The pollen is to feed the brood. If you want them to build out wax, you'd want to feed them 1:1 sugar water too, but that can attract robbing, so make sure your entrance is very small (1/2 inch wide).  Lastly, you could get a Bee Boost for the hive (nurse bees and a frame of brood that's hatching out) to help their population.

I think supporting the hive in that way will get it to grow.  When they are so small, they need some help.  I wouldn't worry about the queen laying two eggs per cell.  Better two than none.  I trust the bees to replace the queen if they think she's a problem.   Good luck!  -Jennifer

Jennifer Radtke
learnfromthebees.com

[real...@aol.com]

Our Master beekeer Mr Sung has the solution which he posted several months ago , Use a germination matt , no longer a problem with thermo regulation , it worked ! 

Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

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[Ruby Kimberly]

Thanks so much for the wisdom, everyone!

The thermoregulation theory makes a lot of sense and is what I’d suspected before I was thrown off by the doubled up eggs. The hive is less than five frames. They’ve been on a sugar syrup diet almost constantly since I got them and I put pollen patties in there a couple months back but they didn't seem too interested. I took the sugar water out about a month ago because they’d slowed down on it and I assumed so much was blooming that they might prefer the extra warmth from taking the top box feeder off to the nutrition but I put it back in this afternoon.

The queen is not marked but I’ve been doing pretty regular inspections over the past six weeks and she has been dutifully plugging away every time I go in. I also haven’t seen any queen cells and the hive is so small they’d be hard to miss but it’s something to consider. 

There’s no glaring signs of pathogens and mites haven’t been a problem (likely because of the very small amount of brood) but I prophylactically put OA strips in for the first time last week. 

A more experienced beekeeper has offered to help + furnish me with some more bees so fingers crossed this is not the end for my steadfast little hive 🤞🏻

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