Dead Queen but no emergency cells

[Tigger]

First time ever I found and marked Q (hatched 5 weeks earlier and laying beautifully).

Worried whether I released her too soon before ink fully dry. She got a lot of attention on release.

A week later I didn't see her (didn't look too hard) but there's larvae though maybe none very small.

Another week later (now) there's NO larvae and no sign of Q.

But if they killed her two weeks ago why did they not draw emergency cells? I saw and photographed eggs that day- see photo that I hope is attached. Can I continue to hope?

Thanks.

 

[enrico]

I would be patient but as a back up put a frame of eggs in from one of your other hives
E

 

[Michael ECB's]

First time ever I found and marked Q (hatched 5 weeks earlier and laying beautifully).

Worried whether I released her too soon before ink fully dry. She got a lot of attention on release.

A week later I didn't see her (didn't look too hard) but there's larvae though maybe none very small.

Another week later (now) there's NO larvae and no sign of Q.

But if they killed her two weeks ago why did they not draw emergency cells? Can I continue to hope?

Thanks.

My opinion, if this colony is strong enough to cover brood frame, I suggest you rob a frame of eggs or very young larvae-1 day olds from one of your other hives and place it into this colony,,, they should be hopelessly queenless by this time... I would also feed them some syrup and if you have a small amount of Pollen patty or pollen... Get them in the mood to make a new leader.. If this does not work, piece of news paper between boxes and add the the work force to one of your weaker colonies..

 

[Tigger]

Thank you Enrico. I'll try that. But I'm curious why they didn't try to make a new queen as they had eggs.

I've amended my first post to include a photo of the eggs.

 

[Tigger]

Thanks Michael.

 

[Erichalfbee]

First time ever I found and marked Q (hatched 5 weeks earlier and laying beautifully).

Worried whether I released her too soon before ink fully dry. She got a lot of attention on release.

A week later I didn't see her (didn't look too hard) but there's larvae though maybe none very small.

Another week later (now) there's NO larvae and no sign of Q.

But if they killed her two weeks ago why did they not draw emergency cells? I saw and photographed eggs that day- see photo that I hope is attached. Can I continue to hope?

Thanks.

A lot of colonies are taking a brood break just now. This may be the case.
The bees may have just cleaned her up b
As enrico says, a test frame won’t go amiss. You can always put it back where it came from if the bees simply cap the brood

 

[Ian123]

Could be she failed some do when they start up. I’ve seen some fail to draw cells with a queen still present.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A lot of colonies are taking a brood break just now. This may be the case.
The bees may have just cleaned her up b

Many of my colonies seem to have a brood break at this time. actually got a newly mated queen from a month ago gone off lay at the moment.
The bees ain't panicking
So I'm not

 

[Tigger]

All very helpful

Thank you everybody for the replies. Very kind and very helpful.

As the bees didn't draw emergency cells when they could have, then perhaps it's just that the Q is taking a break.

I did as suggested and put in a frame from another hive with eggs.

We'll see.

 

[Michael ECB's]

Tigger, Nothing worse than when you start doubting yourself, did I look for her on both sides of all the frames? What could I have done different etc etc, worry / concern then steps in... It really sucks!
May I make the following suggestion (It works for both me and my son)
When looking for the queen - stop looking for the Queen. Let me explain..
Hold the frame up but rather than start looking at each bee searching I suggest rather relax, stop focusing on one individual and scan for the anomaly, and individual that stands a bit taller, moves differently, perhaps jerky movements or zig zags, if you have the sun to your back, keep an eye out for her quickly running under the frame to go to the darker side... Just look for something different, you may be surprised at how quickly you will find her.. Slightly raised clump of bees turn out to be Q-cells etc etc.
Next time your in the other hive, find the queen and watch here, just watch here movements, turn the frame and see how she responds.. And their you have it.. Queen Spotting... Hope this helps you in the future.

For me, the worst part of bee keeping is not spotting the queen on inspection.. Cant stand it. In the past have gone back to open again and again.. Drives me crazy.

 

[Erichalfbee]

No need to find the queen at every inspection though.
Another tip is if you lift a frame out She is more likely to be on the side facing away froM you so look there first.
If you are taking your time looking you will often chase her to the last frame

 

[oliver90owner]

My opinion, if this colony is strong enough to cover brood frame, I suggest you rob a frame of eggs or very young larvae-1 day olds from one of your other hives and place it into this colony,,, they should be hopelessly queenless by this time... I would also feed them some syrup and if you have a small amount of Pollen patty or pollen... Get them in the mood to make a new leader.. If this does not work, piece of news paper between boxes and add the the work force to one of your weaker colonies..

Not good advice - apart from adding a frame with eggs. If they don’t draw new queen cells it likely means there is a queen in there. If they have plenty of stores, no point in adding sugar. Uniting with a weaker colony may result in that queen being lost.

All ways round, poor advice, IMO. If adding a fresh queen, removal of incumbent queen is necessary as a first action. If there is no queen but laying workers, there would be some brood, so unlikely that has occurred.

If lots of bees and little income, she may possibly gone off-lay for a short while.

Take note of those with experience, is my advice.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

There are eggs in the photo.

 

[Swarm]

The eggs were photographed the week before, when he marked the queen.

I hope it is just a brood break but your comment about 'attention' concerns me. She emerged five weeks ago so still proving herself, add a dab of paint and sometimes that's all it takes.
Remove an extra frame next time you inspect so you can see the mesh floor easier and look to see if she is there as you inspect. With luck you will see her or eggs on the combs rather than a corpse on the floor.

 

[Tigger]

Michael, thank you. That's very generous. I'll try that. Usually I just rely on the presence of eggs or very small larvae.

Incidentally, I've found a great free app for my iPhone called Magnifying Glass with Light or Mag.light. It really does magnify and since I got it I can see eggs with it. And when I have them in view I can take a screenshot so I have a photo. That's how I got the photo of eggs that I got the day that I marked the Q.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Hi tigger, has a good flow just stopped recently it could be a brood break?
I think I would be more patient for another week before doing anything but both swarm and Oliver have give you some sound advice.