Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ocba - [ocba] Off with her head?

ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Thomas Grizzle" <griz AT mindspring.com>
  • To: <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [ocba] Off with her head?
  • Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 10:23:19 -0400

Hey y’all,

 

The last week of March I did a MAQS treatment in my two backyard hives because I had mite counts of 5 and 7 per ½ cup of bees, sub-threshold numbers, but at that time of year it seemed to make sense.  Well, it’s now 2 weeks after I removed the treatment strips and I decided it was time to check on the girls and boys.  Both hives had only capped brood.  I did find the queen in one hive and she was one pitiful looking thing!  There were at least 5 “swarm cells” in each hive so I know they will recover just fine.  My question is, should I have killed that queen or left her?  She look like she had lost body mass and did not move around in a normal fashion, as if she had a neurological problem.  My thinking in leaving her was that, while she was not laying, perhaps she was still producing pheromones and running the show to some extent and why not leave her until the new queen comes on line?  Should I have just popped her head off?

 

I used the occasion to do two splits, one from each hive, where I took a frame from each with 1-2 swarm cells and put them into two nuc boxes I had on hand, along with some frames of capped brood and honey.  They have stayed and hopefully a new queen will hatch.  In a month or two, if anyone needs a nuc, I will have one for sale.  I’ll keep the other.

 

Cheers!

 

Thomas B. Grizzle

1541 Ferrell Road

Chapel Hill, NC 27517 USA

919.967.5199

griz AT mindspring.com

 




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page