Guilfordbeekeepers.org

I inspected my hive yesterday. The queen and bees have been busy. The hive(2 deeps) , as a whole, was about 75% drawn out and filled with brood and food. I did notice a supersedure cell, about 2/3 down on a frame of comb - NOT on the bottom of the frame. So I decided to split the hive. I put the queen in the new hive with various aged brood, pollen, nectar, and capped honey. Basically tried to even out the 2 brood boxes. Put an empty Deep on top with a frame of brood and bees in it; and topped them both off with a top feeder. The second hive is about 4 feet away from the original hive. Of course, all the field bees are going to the original hive location (the queenless hive) and there is hardly any activity at the new hive. I expected this. I know I can swap the hives around, and the field bees will start visiting the queenright hive.

Questions:
1) For the queenless hive, should I let nature run its course and wait about 3 weeks to see if there are any eggs, or purchase a queen and expedite the hive build-up process?

2) What can I do for the queenright hive with , seemingly, no field bees?

I am curious--did the supersedure cell have royal jelly in it? If it really is a supersedure cell, you will need to keep an eye on the original queen. IF the bees are sensing something wrong with her, this may be the reason they are trying to make her replacement. I am managing the club's new package at home until it is well established. It made and capped 3 supersedure cells, but as of now, the original marked queen appears to be doing well, and I have not seen any sign of any other queen. The supersedure cells have been removed. Go figure.

If the hive that was made queenless was extremely strong, I might let it re-queen itself. Otherwise, I would buy a queen. You don't want the dwindle and delay of brood rearing involved, even assuming your home made replacement is successful. If I bought a queen to introduce and was sure I had her, this would be one of the few times I would destroy queen cells in the hive receiving her.

I will frequently move a queen out of the original hive into a nearby hive or nuc to make a split. I make sure she has good nectar and pollen frames since she will have few foragers to feed brood for awhile. Your top feeder should do the trick. I would hesitate putting pollen patties (other than very small pieces) in a hive this time of year. Small Hive Beetles love to lay eggs in pollen patties and if there is more than bees will consume in 3 days or less, you are inviting SHB trouble.

Yes, the cell had a larva w/royal jelly in it. That is the only reason I decided to keep it. The laying pattern of the current queen looked good. She was in both boxes before the split.

Here again, my inexperience shows. I have the queen and queen cell in two different hives. I wish there was a way to 'Call a Mentor" to oversee/teach a new beek doing an inspection. Advise them how things look, what to do next, that sort of thing. I'm in High Point. Missed last month's meeting; and don't know any other beek in my area. Are resources, like that, made available if you become a member (which I plan to do anyways)?

The GCBA has mentors who will do hive inspections with new beekeepers or will respond to phone calls. It is one of the benefits of being a member. Our mentor page is password protected because some of the mentors do not want phone numbers to be on a page/list that anyone on the internet can view.

Awesome! Just wish they had an electronic payment system in place, as opposed to the snail mail system. Snail mail and checks take a while to get done. But I'll get that in the mail tonight.

Thanks

I'll come out if you call. 336-302-2708

I just need to resist the urge to be over-protective and panic. You said to give them 3 week, so that is what I'll do. When I'm ready, I'll call and make arrangements.

Just hate taking a hour of your time just to drive up here and back, that's all.

Duane

So what else is a retarded, er, I mean retired old man supposed to do all day?

You're funny.

Maybe, if the Mother Nature will cooperate with us on Sunday, and you have some free time around lunch, we'll invite you up for lunch and do an inspection.

Thanks

You have my number.