bees very passive and gorging on honey

[nagabee]

i just received a nuc box with 5 five frames, they were shipped by air 3 hours journey. i opened the nuc entrance and let the fly. next day i removed the frames in the hive. there were handful of dead bees in the nuc. shipping casualty.

examined the frames and could not locate the queen, two frames had some larvaes in the cells and rest with honey. they were very passive and did not need the smoke or protective clothing, no stings. all the bees were gorging on the honey and not a bit interested in me.

no queen cells,

i left some suger feed 1 part suger 1 part water mix and checked after few hours no bees taking the feed. looked again for the queen unable to spot here.

what is going on? are they planning to move out? any thoughts

 

[thenovice]

Starvation? maybe they are looking for the last scraps of food in the comb. and as they are in a new location, they still need to do exploration flights so nothing coming in.

What is the temperature outside? as Nagaland is unknown territory to me.
Maybe too cold for them and they struggle to keep warm. a feeder on top would then be impossible for them to get to? unlikely but possible.

if not taking feed, trickle a bit down to show them the way up.

other unlikely scenario: they are very nice calm bees and you mistake their usual behavior of polishing and processing nectar for gorging?

 

[nagabee]

the temp is around 27C, using top feeder, did trickle some sugar down but not showing interest [only did few drop] will try again and get back in the morining as it is getting evening time here.

yes you do have a point about calm bees

 

[thenovice]

could you post a picture of the bees on the frame? there might be something off like paralytic bee virus or severe nosema. Could be they are just knocked out by the travel in which case you would just have to give them peace and quiet. sure there are more experienced beekeepers who will have an opinion on here...

 

[JohnyP]

Is that Nagaland in upper Burma?

 

[pargyle]

i just received a nuc box with 5 five frames, they were shipped by air 3 hours journey. i opened the nuc entrance and let the fly. next day i removed the frames in the hive. there were handful of dead bees in the nuc. shipping casualty.

examined the frames and could not locate the queen, two frames had some larvaes in the cells and rest with honey. they were very passive and did not need the smoke or protective clothing, no stings. all the bees were gorging on the honey and not a bit interested in me.

no queen cells,

i left some suger feed 1 part suger 1 part water mix and checked after few hours no bees taking the feed. looked again for the queen unable to spot here.

what is going on? are they planning to move out? any thoughts

Probably nothing going on ... just let them be for a week or two .. once you have fed them about 3 litres of 1:1 they should be able to find their own source of forage .. have you looked around you to see what is in flower at present and do you know whether it is suitable for bees to find either pollen or nectar.

The best thing you can do is stop messing about with them ...the more you interfere with what they are doing in the nest the more time it takes for them to build up. Temperature is not going to be a problem where you are at present and they should start to thrive quite quickly but new small colonies do take a few weeks to settle down and the queen to get into a rhythm.

They will be fine... it's usually the beekeeper that causes the problems !

 

[nagabee]

Is that Nagaland in upper Burma?

yes, NE INDIA next to Assam.

 

[nagabee]

could you post a picture of the bees on the frame? there might be something off like paralytic bee virus or severe nosema. Could be they are just knocked out by the travel in which case you would just have to give them peace and quiet. sure there are more experienced beekeepers who will have an opinion on here...

some pics





hi pargyle, sound advice , beekeeper are the problem.

will keep my distance, just had a look the rapid feeder was visited by two bees, the weather is warm and some nectar is available at the moment as many different plants are flowering.

my major concern is that i was not able to locate the QB. also there were a handful of dead bees in the nuk box, but was not able to tell which was the QB if dead. like you wait and see.

God give me patience but hurry

 

[nagabee]

hi all

after a week or so i checked the bees and they are there, they have taken some syrup and saw few bees bringing in pollen. so far so good. thanks you all for your support.

still have not found the QB darn

 

[user 6228]

hi all

after a week or so i checked the bees and they are there, they have taken some syrup and saw few bees bringing in pollen. so far so good. thanks you all for your support.

still have not found the QB darn

So long as there is evidence of the Q (eggs or small larvae)
dont worry

we can go months without ever seeing the Queen.

 

[enrico]

If there are only five frames, take a photo of each side and put them on here.... Let's see if we can find her!
E

 

[snelgrove]

So long as there is evidence of the Q (eggs or small larvae)
dont worry

we can go months without ever seeing the Queen.

I agree, as long, as eggs are seen you can assume a queen is present, also by the position of the eggs in the cells you can tell how old they are. Always nice to see the queen but not always necessary.

 

[nagabee]

thanks all , sorry for the delay as last few days were some what unusual, had a cold so could not take the pics, this morning was feeling much better, so decided to tinkle with my royal enfield, as i was working i heard a lot of buzzing sound i saw apis cerna the whole lot of them in the sky buzzing away. checked the hive found one dead hornet and four eating at the combs. after short while found the bees up on a branch nearby. tried to get em, did not work, left a box up there and will see what happens.[ok i know i am in for it now]

now the QB is AM checked the five frames and up and behold there she was, quick pic see attachment. sorry for the quilt y of the pic. am relived and happy to see the old lady.