Bum....bum....bum

[Haughton Honey]

Third week of May - SIX Pagden-style artificial swarms (Q plus one frame of sealed brood in the original hive position with the remainder of the brood re-located to pastures new - QCs reduced down to two and both new and old sites inspected for new QCs a few days later etc etc).

Virgin queens spotted in three of the splits 12-14 days ago. Original Q+ hives doing ok.

Today's inspection - SIX HIVES OF LAYING WORKERS.

Pah!

The bee Gods are not currently shining upon those particular hives

That, or the swallows have been busy.......

 

[Polyanwood]

Are you sure? More than one egg at the bottom of the cell when a new queen starts to lay is not uncommon. Laying workers, however, lay on the side of the cell. It seems too early for them.

 

[Haughton Honey]

Are you sure? More than one egg at the bottom of the cell when a new queen starts to lay is not uncommon. Laying workers, however, lay on the side of the cell. It seems too early for them.

Am I sure what a laying worker 'laying pattern' looks like?

Yes.

 

[Polyanwood]

Laying workers don't usually develop that fast. New queens don't always lay in the perfect spiral pattern.

 

[Haughton Honey]

Laying workers don't usually develop that fast. New queens don't always lay in the perfect spiral pattern.

I appreciate that Poly, but these had between 2 and 5 eggs on the side and bottoms of cells over 3-5 frames of brood comb - with those starting to be capped in the typical 'protruded' form.

 

[Polyanwood]

Hmm. Very puzzling and unusual. So much so, that there must be a reason.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I had a couple or three hives last year turn laying worker,they layed up nearly every brood comb, they also had virgin queens in them...queens mated and they sorted themselves out. This also happens very often in the mini mating nucs.

If the bees have any of the Cypria bee in them they will often turn laying worker very fast.

 

[Haughton Honey]

I had a couple or three hives last year turn laying worker,they layed up nearly every brood comb, they also had virgin queens in them...queens mated and they sorted themselves out. This also happens very often in the mini mating nucs.

If the bees have any of the Cypria bee in them they will often turn laying worker very fast.

Hmm....I suppose putting six hives back together after being shaken out is a big ask?!

 

[Chris B]

I had a couple or three hives last year turn laying worker,they layed up nearly every brood comb, they also had virgin queens in them...queens mated and they sorted themselves out. This also happens very often in the mini mating nucs.

If the bees have any of the Cypria bee in them they will often turn laying worker very fast.

This might explain something I saw last Wednesday? 11 mating nucs out of about 35 with loads of sealed drone brood. The odd thing was that whatever is laying up the drone brood started doing it earlier than the queens in the good nucs started laying. I've not yet chucked all of them out. Do you think it's worth waiting Pete? (Workers in nucs are at least partly Superbee).