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  • From: Todd Walker <mtwalker AT imageray.net>
  • To: <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Off with her head?
  • Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 11:04:19 -0400

Thomas,

It is usually best to not intervene unless you are fairly certain about what is going on. Are you sure the queen you saw was the original? She could have been a newly emerged virgin which would account for her small size and movement.

~Todd

From: ocba <ocba-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org> on behalf of Thomas Grizzle <griz AT mindspring.com>
Date: Monday, April 18, 2016 at 10:23 AM
To: <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [ocba] Off with her head?

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 1Ž2 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

 

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