That NOISE!!

[MsCarol]

OK rather then high jack someone else's thread......

Hive swarmed on May 4 th. I managed to capture swarm and it is going to town building. The main hive got LOUD on Sat May 10th. Enough so that this new-bee noticed. I stuck my head in the bee yard today between showers (now that the tractor noise has stopped - fields being turned) and they are "droning" much louder then the rest.
 
Is that the "queenless roar"?

If yes, next stupid question.....Does the first hatched queen kill her rivals before or after taking a mating flight? I am kinda guessing ....before?

IF she had failed to return from her mating flight, I am guessing that is the cause of the noise?

I have the resources to A) return the old queen by combining B) swipe a frame of eggs from her to slip into this hive so they raise a daughter (I would like to keep this strain of survivors going) or C) ......open to suggestions.

I now have 5 hives and I see the advantage of keeping resources going in case TSHF. Right now my goals is growing the bees with only minor robbing. They will get to keep their hard work although I might pull a "Robinhood" and redistribute the wealth come winter. :evil:

[marktrl]

The new queen left for her mating flight and they are making noise to make sure she finds her way back.

[Better.to.Bee.than.not]

hard to say, since we cannot hear them, but ya, they will be noticeably louder in a non queen right hive.
 and yes she kills them usually before she goes on her mating flight while still a virgin. She will also build a posse that will help her do it as she spreads her pheromones around, and drafts others into her 'gang'. At least if they like her. If not...then well, not so good for her.

[Kathyp]

an easy way to check and help them if they need it, is to take a frame of eggs/young larvae and put it in that hive. if they are queenless, they will immediately start queen cells.  you just have check in a couple of days....

[MsCarol]

Thanks Kathy,

That was kinda along my train of thought. I could understand the "keening" while the virgin queen is out on flight, but would have thought it would have stopped by now - 5 days later.

I admit I am still new enough at this that I worry and fuss.

Logical brain says the sooner the better to get the resources (eggs) to the hive so they can requeen again. They will lose less ground that way. Guess a brood break won't hurt them as far as varroa goes either.

So once these showers move out that will be the chore. Should peek at the Jr new hives as well to be sure they have space. The hives big and small are going gang busters bring in both pollen and nectar.

We need a clucky old hen emoticon !!!

[Wolfer]

Generally my hives with a queen that's not laying yet are very quiet. I would be concerned about the queen less roar.
A frame of eggs will tell the tale.

If they start another cell I've found the population will get pretty low by the time the new ones first brood hatches. When this happens to me I slip them a frame of capped brood every 10 days or so to keep the population up.

Woody Roberts

[MsCarol]

Up date:

They are STILL noisy!!! This is the only the one hive of 5 hive now that can be heard from a distance.

Dug down under 2 full, one partial mediums full of honey to the brood nest. Was prepping to add a frame of eggs taken from "momma's" new hive*....  only to discover....eggs. SINGLE eggs scattered in the empty cells. Not a huge amount.  Did not see a queen, but...... IF this is a new queen, she would barely be laying by now. and yet, those were eggs. Rather then steal from a new growing colony, I backed out and will give them another week.

*(Old momma is laying well in her new hive but it is only a week+ old)

(Eyes are bad , but close up looking over the glasses and I can see detail like eggs if I get my nose close enough.)

Added another box as they building comb and filling the box with honey. (Dang I am glad I chose 8 frame mediums!!)

Will check again in a week or so.

Sorry if I am boring everyone with my observations and stumblings. I am TRYING to understand. Maybe impossible.

[GSF]

<(Eyes are bad , but close up looking over the glasses and I can see detail like eggs if I get my nose close enough.)>

You gonna see stars when one of them pops you on the nose :-D

Carol, you're not boring no one. If you do they can change the channel. It seems like I pick up on something from just about every thread. So do, please, keep us posted.

[Better.to.Bee.than.not]

heh, you don't know beeks that well if you think stuff like this bores us......It's part of why a lot of us are beeks.  it is weird though that they are still roaring, maybe she hasn't made enough rounds yet, or maybe the hive is being robbed a lot or agitated some other way. what is your drone ratio, pretty normal? they make a ton of racket as it is, bumping into everyone else and being a nuisance.

[MsCarol]

You gonna see stars when one of them pops you on the nose :-D

 :laugh: Well one did get me on the lip a few days ago. I peeked under the top cover just before a storm system moved in and I guess she took exception to the intrusion.
But that is why I also wear my veil when actually in the hive.

Hoping it is she just hasn't made the rounds enough yet. As to number of drones, seems about average. Now the other big hive that swarmed was having a bachelor party on one frame. It was covered in almost all drones with just a few of the ladies scampering about (Serving cocktails???). But that hive is quiet.

I think I can understand why the girls toss those bumbling louts out for the winter though.  :-D

I will go back and check this hive again in a week. I sure get my exercise unstacking. I am running out of boxes!! I am hoping the extractor my neighbor has in the shed still works even if it does have a bullet hole in it. I would like to extract so I can recycle these mediums back through the system.

[MsCarol]

UpDATE:

Yeah its me again......

Friday, May 23 rd. Hive as loud as ever compared with the other 4 in the same yard. I decided to make the move and break it down to add a frame of eggs from "queen momma's" swarm hive. This bunch has been much more "pissy" then the other hives. I blamed it on queen-less-ness.

Then I get word that a good friend will bring me a garden tiller to use/borrow "after work" Well I waited....and waited...and it got dark. I just couldn't see cracking this box of cranky ladies then having him drive in with the windows open!!!!!! (Hives are next to farm road) So I put it off.

I also wanted to pull off what (I thought) was honey supers (Everything is medium frames - 8 frame in this case)

Today - Sat. early AM. That hive is as loud as ever. Mid day: Every one was leaving me alone. (Tiller arrived) I pulled off the "honey supers" I thought. So I had easier access to the brood.

GUESS WHAT!????????????????????????

Found eggs and BROOD!! "THE BUZZ" Hive #2 has a queen!!!!!! She has been all over the hive. Yet they are STILL loud!!!

Explanations anyone????

Remember this is one of 5 in a yard.

BTW pulled 4 frames of honey........everything else had brood and i sent it back.

NEED more boxes!!

Next question.....how long is that long term memory??? I think this hive hates me.

[GSF]

I had hives I thought had the "queen less" roar. I guess sometimes they are just loud or maybe it's a high population?

[BeeMaster2]

UpDATE:

Yeah its me again......

Friday, May 23 rd. Hive as loud as ever compared with the other 4 in the same yard. I decided to make the move and break it down to add a frame of eggs from "queen momma's" swarm hive. This bunch has been much more "pissy" then the other hives. I blamed it on queen-less-ness.

Then I get word that a good friend will bring me a garden tiller to use/borrow "after work" Well I waited....and waited...and it got dark. I just couldn't see cracking this box of cranky ladies then having him drive in with the windows open!!!!!! (Hives are next to farm road) So I put it off.

I also wanted to pull off what (I thought) was honey supers (Everything is medium frames - 8 frame in this case)

Today - Sat. early AM. That hive is as loud as ever. Mid day: Every one was leaving me alone. (Tiller arrived) I pulled off the "honey supers" I thought. So I had easier access to the brood.

GUESS WHAT!????????????????????????

Found eggs and BROOD!! "THE BUZZ" Hive #2 has a queen!!!!!! She has been all over the hive. Yet they are STILL loud!!!

Explanations anyone????

Remember this is one of 5 in a yard.

BTW pulled 4 frames of honey........everything else had brood and i sent it back.

NEED more boxes!!

Next question.....how long is that long term memory??? I think this hive hates me.

My first question is was the brood capped so that you can tell it it is drone or worker?
I suspect it is worker.
When you removed the honey, did you use a brush? That can make a hive very pissy. It took 3 weeks for the first hives that I extracted with a brush to calm down enough to stop attacking anyone who walked in my back yard. I never use a brush any more. Use bee quick or bee dun and then shake off the remaining bees.
I am surprised this hive is loud after the queen is laying. After your original threads, I thought that this hive was going to produce multiple swarms/queens.
Another thought was that you were hearing the queen getting ready to make her maiden flights. The bees often look and sound like they are swarming.
There is a good chance this hive thinks it is strong enough to swarm again and is saying so. Removing the honey and returning the empties should help stop that. Use a full suit to return the empties.
Keep us posted.
Jim

[RHBee]

Sounds like your doing great Carol. Keep us posted. Was the brood capped or still open?

[jayj200]

Mine was loud too after a swarm. I didn't understand then why but they the girls informed me while, siting and watching them. I SAW THE QUEEN COME HOME. immediately the whole colony fell silent. she came home and was robust.
jay

[MsCarol]

Brood was in all stages from eggs to capped. yes, it is worker brood. I did not dig all the way to the bottom when I discovered the eggs as that answered the question that there is a queen in there someplace.

Maybe it is just a high population .....or they are just a noisy bunch. I guess it wouldn't surprise me if this hive swarms again. It originated from a small slightly bigger then a grapefruit size late July swarm last year that I caught at a friends house. I worried all winter if it would make it. Guess they did.  :-D BTW the first swarm off this hive with "momma" had filled the second box in a week so they got a new addition. That leaves me ONE 8 frame medium left!

I originally planned to set the honey supers out at sundown in hopes most would leave and return to the hive. Went back at near dark and discovered that there was quite a bit of brood in where I thought was just honey and those bees were not leaving. So I just removed the 4 frames that was only capped honey and gave them back the rest. Centered the brood and added 4 empty frames with foundation on the sides. Very little brush work as about all that was hanging out on the capped honey was drones. Ended up putting it all back together.