Mandeville
House Bee
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2010
- Messages
- 257
- Reaction score
- 7
- Location
- Ripley, Surrey
- Hive Type
- WBC
- Number of Hives
- 1
Sorry in advance - this is going to be a long post!
I've a mystery on my hands and I think it's necessary to give some background.
So I'm putting in extracts from my hive notes from last year.
The queen in this hive was marked and clipped early in the season. After 10/6/17 she was never seen again, although she was obviously around. I did a split after the attempted swarm on 24/6/17.
10/06/17 Q seen, Brood on 6 frames
17/06/17 Q not seen, Brood on 6+ frames
24/06/17 Multiple closed QC found, all but one removed.
Q not seen, presume lost during attempted swarm – bee numbers not depleted.
30/06/17 QC opened
14/07/17 Eggs and larvae on 2 frames
21/07/17 Brood on 2 frames
01/08/17 Brood on 5 frames
1 opened QC found + 2 torn down ?superceded
11/08/17 Brood on 5 frames
18/08/17 Brood on 5 frames
1 open QC – superceding again??
23/08/17 Brood on 5 frames, inc eggs
QC closed
31/08/17 Brood on 6 frames, inc eggs
QC torn down but two more open QC found. Left one.
14/09/17 QC opened.
No more records apart from OA trickle in Jan until today.
Today there was some brood on a few frames and 1 large closed QC.
Then found a queen - very skinny and weedy, who was unclipped and had something silvery-looking on her thorax which could have been the remnants of marking.
I decided there was nothing to be done for now so went back to the QC frame to mark it with a drawing pin. When I cleared the burr comb off it, there was already a drawing pin in exactly the right place.
They surely aren't thinking of superceding already? Did they try again after my last full inspection in September? And how could I have a marked Q?
Thanks for reading - I'd appreciate any theories!
I've a mystery on my hands and I think it's necessary to give some background.
So I'm putting in extracts from my hive notes from last year.
The queen in this hive was marked and clipped early in the season. After 10/6/17 she was never seen again, although she was obviously around. I did a split after the attempted swarm on 24/6/17.
10/06/17 Q seen, Brood on 6 frames
17/06/17 Q not seen, Brood on 6+ frames
24/06/17 Multiple closed QC found, all but one removed.
Q not seen, presume lost during attempted swarm – bee numbers not depleted.
30/06/17 QC opened
14/07/17 Eggs and larvae on 2 frames
21/07/17 Brood on 2 frames
01/08/17 Brood on 5 frames
1 opened QC found + 2 torn down ?superceded
11/08/17 Brood on 5 frames
18/08/17 Brood on 5 frames
1 open QC – superceding again??
23/08/17 Brood on 5 frames, inc eggs
QC closed
31/08/17 Brood on 6 frames, inc eggs
QC torn down but two more open QC found. Left one.
14/09/17 QC opened.
No more records apart from OA trickle in Jan until today.
Today there was some brood on a few frames and 1 large closed QC.
Then found a queen - very skinny and weedy, who was unclipped and had something silvery-looking on her thorax which could have been the remnants of marking.
I decided there was nothing to be done for now so went back to the QC frame to mark it with a drawing pin. When I cleared the burr comb off it, there was already a drawing pin in exactly the right place.
They surely aren't thinking of superceding already? Did they try again after my last full inspection in September? And how could I have a marked Q?
Thanks for reading - I'd appreciate any theories!