Menu
Log in
Forgot password

BUCKS COUNTY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION

Log in
Forgot password

New Queen

  • May 16, 2024 10:22 AM
    Quote
    Message # 13357727
    Jennifer

    So I did a deep hive inspection this last Monday, noticed 3 queen cells that appeared to have hatched, my previous inspection 2 weeks prior to this did not show evidence of these.  I assume the original queen swarmed or died as the amount of bees in the hive is high, but  I did not see much capped brood, my thought was to give it 2 weeks to see if any capped brood was noted before I re-queen.  Is this the best way to handle this?


    Last modified: May 16, 2024 11:56 AM | Jennifer
  • May 16, 2024 12:49 PM
    Quote
    Reply # 13357819 on 13357727
    Kurt (Administrator)

    Jennifer -Here is my take - I invite others to chime in.   

    It sounds like you hive has already swarmed and you may have some virgins in the process of getting mated.   If you have another hive - you can add a test brood frame with eggs - Check in three or 4 days.  If they start building queen cells when the eggs are laid - then I'd say you go down the road to introduce a new queen( several options).  Otherwise - i think I would wait a week or two to see if one of the virgins successfully  mate and a new queen takes over( you should see eggs in 2 weeks).    Either way they will be bloodless for a few weeks - its a good brood break to keep Varroa in check but you may want think about adding a frame of capped brood from another one of your hives to keep the populations up while nature does its thing.   
Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software