Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => TOP BAR HIVES - WARRE HIVES - LONG HIVES => Topic started by: Sundog on July 26, 2011, 11:38:10 pm

Title: Need some help please..
Post by: Sundog on July 26, 2011, 11:38:10 pm

...in interpreting the attached photo, after the Webmaster attaches it for me (not enough posts yet).

 In my limited knowledge, it shows capped something (brood I guess), honey, larvae and a vacated queen cell.  I cut the rubber bands off after taking the photo.

I pulled these bees and their comb from under a mobile home five days before this picture was taken and put them in a brand new TBH I recently made.  The colony seems to be happy and doing well, but the last time I looked, July 23rd, there were no larvae or capped cells, and I have been unable to find a queen.  

What happened with the queen cell?  Did she leave?  I realize no one could know for certain, but I could use some knowledgeable opinions.

Regards and TIA

(http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1141/tbhphoto.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/88/tbhphoto.jpg/)

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Title: Re: Need some help please..
Post by: Tommyt on July 27, 2011, 09:09:04 am

If that cell in the picture was closed and now is open
She may be off mating or even mated all ready?
If you don't get some eggs in a week or so
I'd say buy a Queen
If you need ##'s to queen breeders around here PM me
I can give you a few numbers

Tommyt

Title: Re: Need some help please..
Post by: caticind on July 27, 2011, 02:57:18 pm

Capped brood and what's either larvae about to be capped or pupae being removed.  Lots of backfilled nectar.  Open queen cell.

What did this cell look like when you did the cutout?  If it was closed, sit back and wait.  You have a queen, but she will take up to 4 weeks to begin laying. 

If it was open already and this was the only queen cell you got, you may not have gotten a queen with your cutout.  You could have missed her under the mobile home, or she might have swarmed before you got there, and maybe the virgin was let behind or out flying.....or any number of other possibilities.

Either way, if you have another hive that is doing well, give this hive a bar with eggs.  If they have a queen, they will just raise them.  If they do not have a queen, they will build queen cells.

If you want to buy a queen instead of raising one, you can go ahead and do that now. But you should put some thought into what you'll do if you later find you had a queen all along.

Title: Re: Need some help please..
Post by: JP on July 27, 2011, 04:40:16 pm

If this is the total amount of bees that survived you do not have sufficient numbers to support a colony. But do tell.


...JP