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Author Topic: Queen Cells - Concern if let them emerge for AHB  (Read 1743 times)

Offline mgmoore7

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Queen Cells - Concern if let them emerge for AHB
« on: September 15, 2007, 03:04:59 pm »
I think if I were not in FL, I would just let these two hives bee but Africanized Bees is a reality.  If these hives were in a rural area, may not be as big of a deal but I am in a neighborhood with 6 other houses within 60 feet of my hives. 

Big Hive (for me)
This hive is one deep & one med brood and one honey super.  I found one cluster of queen cells toward the top of the frame, about 4 in the med brood box.  They were not capped but I could see larve older than 6 days... In the deep brood box I found larve about 6 days old, but did not find any eggs. 

In this area, if the queens emerge and mate, it is very likely that she will mate with at least some AHB and I need to avoid that.  So if they are indeed queenless, then I need to get a queen.

What should my next steps be? 

Should I destroy those cells?

Medium Hive
This hive has been queenless for at least a month.  I had a laying worker.  Last week, I put in some frames with larve and eggs (I think).  Then I shook all the bees off about 40 feet away hoping hte laying worker would not make it back.  I then introduced a new queen.  They released the queen within a few days.  Today, rather than eggs and larve, I find 15 to 20 queen cells and most are capped.  These cells are mostly in the middle of the frames and some to the top.  None at the bottom.

I did not find any eggs from possibly a working layer, but understand I am still new, and processing all of this during inspection is still not second nature. 

What should my next steps bee?

Kill the queen cells and try introducing a queen again?

Will the bees try to produce a queen from working layer eggs?

-Added:
My wife just had a thought.  I just made a split from the big hive on Tuesday.  I wonder if I accidentally took the queen from it?  Maybe I could combine it back?

I also have one other queenright hive that is one deep and I could combine it with one of these.  I don't really want to my # of hives, but I would rather have a chance of a fall harvest from a couple good hives than virtually nothing from 4 weak hives.

Offline Understudy

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Re: Queen Cells - Concern if let them emerge for AHB
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2007, 03:21:11 pm »
The Big Hive:

The cells up high mean a supercedure the old queen if not already gone is on her way out.

Here is where I will depart from the acceptable standard.

Let the bees be bees. Could they mate with AHB? Yup.

All the experts will tell you this is a bad thing. I am not an expert and i will tell you let it happen.  Here is why.

Just because a hive is AHB does not out right mean it is aggressive. These are the only type of hives they have in S. America and in some of the south western US.

Is it inclined to be more agressive? Sure.

Now why would I want to to take the chance? Because the media hype is way overblown. Also the current genetic stock for bees is miserable. We need some genetic diversity. AHB hybrids are just that and they excel in the tropical climate that is Florida. Especially S. Florida. AHB have next to no issue with varroa or most of the other diseases out there except chill brood. Small Hive beetles tend to also find a nice home with AHB. Which is generally just annoying.

Now if you are concerned and there is merit to be concerned. You should buy a marked southern US queen. The marked status lets you know when the queens have changed. The southern US means it is use to the climate.

Now while I like the idea of genetic diversity, agressive hives suck. So if a hive is hot you should requeen it. However give the bees a chance. I have a few feral hives that are just fantastic. But the party line in Florida is all feral hives are AHB.

Sincerely,
Brendhan
The status is not quo. The world is a mess and I just need to rule it. Dr. Horrible

Offline Understudy

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Re: Queen Cells - Concern if let them emerge for AHB
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2007, 03:24:09 pm »
The medium hive:

The requeen effort failed but not completely. There are now queen cells to replace her with. Let nature take it's course.


Sincerely,
Brendhan
The status is not quo. The world is a mess and I just need to rule it. Dr. Horrible

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Queen Cells - Concern if let them emerge for AHB
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2007, 03:37:27 pm »
There are many in AHB areas who get swarms and do cutouts and raise their own queens with no serious problems.  They just requeen if they get hot.  There is a lot of hype about AHB.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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Offline mgmoore7

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Re: Queen Cells - Concern if let them emerge for AHB
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2007, 04:34:30 pm »
Ok, I hear yah but lets just say, I want to stay with known stock for reasons I won't go into now. 

 What is the best way to go about dealing with these too hives to get a new queen in considering their current situation. 

 

anything