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  • From: Alicia Reenders <a.reenders AT gmail.com>
  • To: Lewis Cauble <lewis AT hivebody.com>
  • Cc: NC Beekeepers Orange County <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] no queen after installing package
  • Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:10:02 -0400

Well, one more email with the final word (and one more maybe later with results).
I picked up a queen from Jack this morning, and she's hanging in her cage now. He gave me instructions if I have laying workers, but I wanted to check if I have a weak queen in there. I still can't find her, I looked one more time today. So if there's a weak queen in there, will the colony "take care" of her? This is what I'm counting on.

I've left the cork on both ends of the queen cage and will be sure not to let her out unless the colony is friendly.

-Alicia


On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 9:12 PM, Alicia Reenders <a.reenders AT gmail.com> wrote:
Hello again,

John Wallace came by today and took a look in the hive. He didn't think there were laying workers, but he did think I need a new queen. We saw some larva, but nothing is capped yet. We both were not able to find a definite queen. He thought there was at least one that looked like a queen, but if it was her, she is very small, smaller than some of the workers even. He thinks I would benefit from re-queening.

He said things look pretty good other than having a poor performing queen. If anyone else has experience like this, let me know. I suppose I could wait a little longer to see what kind of cappings the brood has, but John thought I should re-queen as soon as possible.

Thanks for your help, John! It was reassuring to have some help! I'm going to call Jack tomorrow and see if he has any queens.

-Alicia


On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 8:57 PM, Lewis Cauble <lewis AT hivebody.com> wrote:
I'd say it's certainly time for someone to take a peek.  Is there anyone on that side of town that could look at these?


On Apr 24, 2010, at 7:12 PM, Alicia Reenders wrote:

Hello again. I've looked at my frames again, this is day 14, and day 13 after releasing the queen. I still have lots of cells with multiple eggs(3-4), and even eggs laid in the cells that have pollen in them! I don't have anything capped, so still not 100% sure they are all drone cells. But I'm still worried. There's not that much comb drawn out, maybe 1/2 of a frame on 4-5 frames.

And I haven't been able to spot the queen. I looked for a good while today, no signs. I did see some bees with their rear ends in the cells, and they were workers. This makes me suspicious as well.

I feel like I should just get a new queen. I'm afraid if I wait till I see cappings, and the workers are laying, they will take up all the space and leave nothing for a new queen to lay in.

If anyone in the area happened to be bored and didn't mind checking out the hive, I'm free Sunday, Monday, and Wed evening. I don't know if it's a bad idea to open it up again 2 days in a row...Address is 1917 Watson Rd, 27704

Thanks everyone for your help! I'll keep you updated.
-Alicia

On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 11:06 PM, Chris and Lisa Laudeman <chrisandlisa AT laudeman.com> wrote:
Alicia,

We live in N. Durham and could maybe get by to take a look with you. .
.after a few days.

Chris

On 4/19/10, Alicia Reenders <a.reenders AT gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks, my bees are on the east side of Durham. I wondered if it was a bit
> early for laying workers. I think bees are going to teach me to be patient!
>
> I'm ok with waiting it out a week, giving them some time. But if anyone does
> happen to live nearby, I'd be glad for someone to take a look. Maybe we'll
> see in a week if there's no urgency.
>
> Thanks for your help! I'll let you know what happens.
>
> -Lish
>
> On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 8:15 PM, Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  Alicia,
>>
>> "Usually" it takes a fairly long time to get laying workers --- several
>> weeks of queenlessness (and broodlessness) at a minimum, probably longer;
>> it
>> varies. It would seem very strange for you to have them so fast. More
>> likely, you may have a young queen who isn't good at her job yet. Don't be
>> too hasty. If it was my hive, I'd leave them ALONE for another week and
>> then
>> check it out thoroughly to see how things are going.
>>
>> Just saw where Lewis sent the same answer, so you've got 2 for 2....
>>
>> Let us know how it turns out.
>>
>> Randall
>>
>>
>> Alicia Reenders wrote:
>>
>> Hello there beekeepers!
>>
>> Thanks for being patient with us "newbees" ha ha. But I do have another
>> question. I installed my package last weekend and the bees seemed great.
>> But
>> I think I was too impatient and released my queen after 2 days, thinking I
>> needed to do that. I think the colony rejected her, because I haven't seen
>> her again. I saw eggs for the first time today, day 7 after releasing her
>> into the hive. But almost all the cells have multiple eggs, like 3-4. A
>> few
>> have 1 or 2, but most have more. The bees are collecting pollen and
>> drawing
>> out comb on some of the frames.
>>
>> So do the multiple eggs mean that I have laying workers? Should I get a
>> new
>> queen as soon as possible? Could I just have a bad laying queen?
>>
>> Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks! This is such a great resource,
>> and I hope it isn't a bother cluttering up the listserve with beginner
>> questions.
>>
>> -Alicia
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> North Carolina Beekeepinghttp://www.theocba.org/
>>
>>
>>
>

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