Drunk bees

[boosybees]

Dear all, I am a novice beekeeper having just taken my hive through it's first winter. At my last inspection I discovered what looked like mould in the light syrup that I am feeding. I removed it immediately, and continued the inspection. Frankly, they all looked drugged. I could have inspected the hive without protection; they were that sluggish. There were no eggs, some capped brood and some stores of pollen and nectar/syrup. I did not see the queen.
I can only conclude that the sugar solution had fermented, and that they were drunk. Now I am worried that they have stored this booze in the hive and will be drunk forever.
Has anyone got any advice as to how I can help them get over this?
Thanks in advance

 

[BeeJayBee]

Feed them some fresh syrup, but only give them enough to last 48 hours so it has no chance to go mouldy.

How many frames of stores are there? Sluggish could mean they are hungry and on the point of starvation.

 

[Cazza]

What would be bothering me is why they need to be fed at this time of year. Why haven't they gathered enough stores?
Cazza

 

[oliver90owner]

No advice on how to get them over it, IF that is what it is, other than to remove the offending item.

However it would appear, by simple mathematics and inference, that your queen has not been laying for probably ten days or more. That, to me, would seem to be a problem which needs some consideration, quite likely urgent consideration. IMO, you may well need a test frame and possibly a new queen.

Your conclusion may be partly correct - that of spoilage - but there should be more obvious signs of active fermentation, I would have thought.

 

[Little John]

I can only conclude that the sugar solution had fermented, and that they were drunk. Now I am worried that they have stored this booze in the hive and will be drunk forever.

If the sugar solution was stored in a sealed container, it's unlikely to have fermented without exploding that container, as a great deal of CO2 is given off during fermentation. The syrup would also have a very 'heady' smell. If in doubt - taste it !

A small amount of alcohol in syrup or unsealed nectar isn't usually a problem - but if there's a lot, then shake out as much as possible, and give 'em plenty of uncontaminated syrup so that the percentage of stores containing 'booze' is further reduced.
LJ

 

[boosybees]

Drunken bees

Thank you all for your speedy replies.
I am feeding the bees in order to help them to draw out the super that I placed on the hive quite early in the season. The reason I did that was because they had expanded rapidly in early spring and I was worried that they were running out of space (and so might swarm). They have begun to draw out the super frames but it is a slow old process.
They do seem to be gathering their own stuff (or at least they were until they became all sleepy). I don't think they were starving, there seemed to be some stores in the brood body.
I too am worried about my queen. The marked one has definitely gone I have not seen her for 3 weeks now. I hoped there was another as initially there were larvae and emerging bees. It is only in the last 2 weeks that I have not seen eggs or new larvae. There were queen cells (sealed, 2 weeks ago) but they have gone now.
I guess I should inspect again now and if there is no queen, no eggs, no brood and no queen cells then get a frame of larvae from a friend? Or would it be better just to but a queen and try to introduce her?
Thanks again for all your help

 

[VEG]

Are you a member of a near by association, as this would probably be a big help to you.

 

[oliver90owner]

Sorry, but I think you need to get a good beekeeping book and study it. You should have done so before jumping in at the deep end with bees. They are living creatures and deserve good treatment if expected to provide a service to the beekeeper.

Your bees would appreciate that, if they were able to communicate with you.

I can fairly safely conclude that you either lost your queen suddenly or she/they (the workers) gave notice of quitting for better pastures, and have up-sticks and swarmed.

You are likely left with a new queen which has not (yet) commenced laying for one reason or another.

 

[Little John]

I guess I should inspect again now and if there is no queen, no eggs, no brood and no queen cells then get a frame of larvae from a friend? Or would it be better just to but a queen and try to introduce her?

I concur with the previous post - that you've lost your queen due to swarming and that you now may or may not have a queen which isn't laying yet. Your bees certainly sound more demoralised than starving.

If I were in your position, then I'd stop guessing and clutching at straws and ask your friend - who I assume has some experience ? - to come over and take a look, and perhaps take temporary control of the hive until you've learned the basics of beekeeping, either from a book or from a course.

It sounds as if you've got yourself into something of a pickle, and forums such as this can only do so much - what's needed here (imo) is an experienced pair of eyes actually looking through the hive and taking the appropriate action.

LJ

 

[boosybees]

Ouch, Oliver90Owner! Completed a course and have two good books. Please don't make assumptions about novices purely because you have more experience. I have no wish to hurt these living creatures, that is precisely why I was asking for advice!

Chairman of local BKA has already inspected my hive 3 weeks and 1 week ago, was not sure of what exactly was occurring, but offered some useful advice. I will ask her to inspect with me again (since the sluggish episode) as VEG and Little John have (more kindly) suggested.

 

[oliver90owner]

Ouch!?

One of the most basic of basic beekeeping facts. Queen cells develop into queens given the opportunity.

Yet you quietly introduce that fact (of there being queen cells) well into the thread and then dismiss them (the cells) because they have 'gone now'. Where precisely did you think they went?

 

[BeeJayBee]

I too am worried about my queen. The marked one has definitely gone I have not seen her for 3 weeks now. I hoped there was another as initially there were larvae and emerging bees. It is only in the last 2 weeks that I have not seen eggs or new larvae. There were queen cells (sealed, 2 weeks ago) but they have gone now.

Chairman of local BKA has already inspected my hive 3 weeks and 1 week ago, was not sure of what exactly was occurring, but offered some useful advice. I will ask her to inspect with me again

I'm a bit surprised that an inspection by an experienced beekeeper 3 weeks ago didn't find the queen cells that had been sealed 2 weeks ago, unless the time between inspections was greater than the time it takes a queen cell to be made and capped.

It might be worth sharing the advice your local mentor gave you when they inspected your hives, because at the moment it doesn't look as if we're getting the complete story.

Have you seen other links to the WBKA booklet about queen cells? It's near the bottom of the list on this page http://www.wbka.com/information-station/

 

[Teemore]

Can you quantify the amount of bees in your hive please?

Your description of sluggish bees crawling around sounds like a failing colony where, due to low numbers of bees, they are unable to maintain sufficient heat in the brood box and some become chilled. I hope this is not the case.

When the queen cells were discovered in your hive, what did you do with them? Did you leave them alone or did you break them down?