Sunday 23 March 2014

So three became two..

So my joy at getting three hives of bees through the winter proved to be VERY short lived as the reality of the consequences of a drone laying queen or a laying worker sank in.

In short, with no new worker bees being laid and the over wintering bees starting to die as spring trully gets up and running, there would soon be noone bringing in nectar and the colony would slowly starve to death.

Definitely not a nice way to go.
Action was called for - but what to do?
The consensus of advice down at the apiary was "if there really isn't a queen...throw them on the floor"

So a thorough inspection was needed..if there's a queen in there she needs to be found...


But try as I might I could not find a queen
There was plenty of drone brood developing....

This seemed to me to be the surest sign that in the absence of a fertilised queen one (or maybe several) worker bees' ovaries had developed so that they could lay eggs....

 




But as she hadn't mated, no sperm available means she would be incapable of laying workers...hence all the drones.

So ..there's nothing else to be done....its time to throw them all on the floor...




The theory is that out in the open the pheromones from the laying worker will not be strong enough to convince all the other workers that there is a queen present.  So they will do their best to find their way into another hive.  If they turn up on the landing board bearing gifts of honey or pollen the chances are that they will be let into the hive...

 

Certainly seems like some introductions are being made....so its just a case of being patient and letting them sort themselves out...

Better take the old hive floor away...


Some of them seem determined to return home even though home isn't there any more!!

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