The Queen is dead. Or at least we think she is dead. A few inspections ago we noticed a Queen cell had formed on the top corner of one of the frames. It’s sort of hard to tell from this picture, but everything we researched told us this was most definitely a Queen cell.
The colony might rear a new Queen, if the current Queen is old, and not laying. When the Queen mates with the drones, she has the ability to lay a certain amount of fertilized eggs. Toward the end of her life, she runs out of eggs. She only mates once. In order for the colony to survive a new Queen must be born.
What we think we know: A supercedure cell is a large peanut shaped cell that is usually at the top of the frame out of the direct path of the current Queen. If they are at the bottom of the frame, in the direct path of the Queen and the bees, then those cells might suggest they are going to swarm.
We like to be very hands off with our bees, it was suggested to us that we rip off and destroy the Queen cell. However, we decided to leave it. If we were to take away a supercedure cell, we risk the colony becoming Queenless when the old Queen runs out of eggs or dies. When TJ did his last inspection we found out that our instincts were right. The Queen cell was empty and it has appeared that the colony has invited new royalty to rule them. Our instincts were right!
Old Queen
New Queen
So, you can tell the difference right? If you can tell, let us know because we can’t! Some people mark their Queens, but we’ve decided on using the least invasive and least reliable route to identify our new Queen, our eyesight. We’re going purely by what we observe. This week egg production has slowed down which is characteristic of a new virgin Queen. Once she has her rendezvous with the drones, she will work double time laying eggs for awhile. Or so we think.
That’s the exciting news from the hive. Other then the fact that we’ve put on our first honey super! At the rate they’ve been growing and working, we’ll need the second one in no time. Those extra honey supers are for our honey. It’s so close I can almost taste it!
Our first year colony will be giving us honey. That’s fairly uncommon. First of all, our swarm was huge! About 6.5 lbs if I remember right. 25,000 bees or so. Coupled with the fact that we purchased used hives that were already loaded with honeycomb. That means ours bees didn’t have to spend time building comb, they only had to make repairs to what was there.
Our busy bees.
Is it strange that I’ve come to love the smell of propolis? Propolis is “bee glue”. They use it to glue things together and fill in cracks and make repairs. After TJ does an inspection I always love the way he smells. I guess I’ll always know what a bee hive smells like now.
Coolio on getting honey your first year!! Just watch that they have enough going into fall because mine died before I realized they didn’t have enough. wah.
As long as you see brood cells, things should be just fine!
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Wow, super cool you got a new Queen. We have learned a lot about bees lately, They are my favourite insect. I love their waggle dance. Everything they do is cool. Apart from when they sting because it means they die and it could kill a person. Am a bit concerned about their decline though so glad to see your hive is humming nicely along.
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Heather Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 6:59 am
The bees are actually amazingly docile. We live in the PNW, so maybe the rain drags them down or something. LOL!
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Interesting stuff. The only thing I’ve learned about bees is to be less afraid of them.
After years of dealing with angry wasps and their persistence in building nests around our backyard, bees are now welcome visitors and I actually enjoy their presence.
Maybe not enough to start raising them mind you, but at least I no longer feel the need to start screaming, wailing and running when one decides to visit.
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Malila spent about 20-30 minutes watching a hive at the nature center today. I thought of you. She was watching some workers pull a bee out of a comb. She was wondering if it was a new bee but we couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t moving when it came out.
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Heather Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Probably. The nurse bees help the drones out of their cells. Does she remember if it had giant eyes? Drones have HUGE eyes that wrap over the top of their head. The drones get help coming out of their cells. They are good for one thing. Mating. The worker bees (females have to get themselves out with no help)
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Awesome! Emily(5yo) and I are loving reading about your bees. One day we are going to have bees.
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hi,
i just thought you would like this website. it s a photographer who spent 7 years taking pictures of bees and beekeepers all over the world. his pictures are amazing
http://www.thehoneygatherers.com/html/phototheque1.html
on the left in the menu you can see many pictures.
keep on with the great blog!
joanna
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Heather Reply:
October 11th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Thanks Joanna! I can’t wait to check it out!
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