lesson learned...

[SillyChicken]

So our first year with bees was a bit of a disappointment. But, we learned some things and I'd like to share that here. Our first hive ended up dying or absconding. We learned the following year what had happened.

Here's' what happened:

We noticed after a short time, that our hive was not growing. We tried really hard to find our queen but never could. We thought she was there because we were seeing eggs in the cells. When the hive attempted to create a new queen, we stupidly thought we needed to remove the queen cells, after all we were seeing eggs. Right? Wrong! What we didn't know was that our queen had died and the hive was trying to fix it. A drone had tried to cover for the lack of a queen by laying eggs. There is a difference in how a drone lays vs how a queen lays eggs. So this is what we learned (besides to trust the bees more)... a drone lays multiple eggs toward the sides of a cell, and a queen lays a single egg in the center of the cell. So there we go, lesson learned! If you see this laying pattern and haven't identified your queen, you may want to buy a new one, or allow your hive to create a new one.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Thanks for sharing, that is interesting to know. Best of luck with your bees!

 

[kinder]

Thanks for that matter of fact information SC. I'm a want to bee, bee keeper

 

[Happy Chooks]

Good information, thanks for sharing!

 

[Maggiesdad]

Thanks for this! Good stuff and an awesome indicator of a colony in trouble.

One small correction, tho - Worker girls laid the eggs you saw... drones are haploid and male.

 

[Latestarter]

Wow, sorry about the/your lost colony. hard lesson to learn. I've been reading and reading and researching and studying and reading some more to get as much knowledge under my belt before my first (ever) bees arrive this spring. Seems there's always more to learn/be aware of... as well as the multitude of different approaches people use. Really excited to get started! Do you have a bee keeper club/organization nearby that you could join? I joined one where I am and went to my first meeting earlier this week. They are VERY willing to mentor/be helpful and might have been able to steer you right back when the issue happened. Hope you kept up with it or plan to!

 

[babsbag]

In addition to looking for eggs you should also be looking for emerging bees. If the queen is present and doing her job you will see brood in various stages, not just the eggs.

 

[Sweetened]

This is great info. I have read several books as a wanna be and have not come across this infornation..

 

[Maggiesdad]

This is great info. I have read several books as a wanna be and have not come across this infornation..

Natural Beekeeping - 978-1-60358-362-6 , page 82

Top-Bar Beekeeping - 978-1-60358-461-6 , pages 80, 114-116, 115 w/picture, 139

The more I read about various interests, the more I realize that many books are like pop songs, they are flashy and have a catchy tune(read lots of pretty pics), but not much substance to the song (where's the wisdom?! LOL).

In addition to looking for eggs you should also be looking for emerging bees. If the queen is present and doing her job you will see brood in various stages, not just the eggs.

Quite true. But know that even with emerging brood in various stages, when the workers are laying it's not going to end well. This is where the one or two hive 'bee - haver' is at a disadvantage in keeping the colonies going and growing should a problem arise. Has the newbie lined up a queen source in prep for that event? Is the newbie in and inspecting the colony regularly to find these things, are are they a once ore twice a summer kind of inspector?... Just a few things to ponder on why beginners have troubles sometimes.
Glen

I cant' wait to get started, either!!!

 

[babsbag]

Fortunately I have a queen raiser in my community so my queens are only a phone call away, but you can't just dump a queen into a hive with laying workers, they will probably kill her. They think they are queenright. You have to either combine them with another colony or you can stick a frame of open brood in the hive every week for a few weeks and there is a pheromone that the brood gives off that should stop the laying and make them accept the queen more readily or they should start making their own.

Also, on a another note, the eggs that laying workers lay will hatch, they will be drones which come from unfertilized eggs.

Bees are complicated.