Puzzled (But I am new to this)

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biggles

House Bee
Joined
May 7, 2010
Messages
336
Reaction score
0
Location
Tunbridge wells Kent uk
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
loads
On the 17th July I committed a bad sin and accidentally killed the queen. I was about to split the hive as it was very strong, 3 supers and bees hanging out the door. The queen was in a super when I opened the hive, I watched her and tried to remove a frame to get at her. In the removal of the frame I must have crushed her :(
So off I went a bought a new queen, put her in the brood box, put a new super on to give them space and sat back. A week later had a look no queen no eggs.
A couple of days later I looked in the super and there were two emergency QC.
DSC_0187-1.jpg


I took the QE off and worked out that 23 days (Time a queen takes to be reared and mate etc).
Yesterday 23 or 24 day since I killed the original queen I opened the box to find every frame has 2 or more QC on. HOW?
Pic of the AS hive
DSC_0201.jpg

So now I have done a AS hooked out all but one QC and hoping alls well.
 
Seriously (like everyone else reading this probably), I, too, am puzzled.

Bees will try tdo what they want no matter if you intervene (or even interfere!). Lots of possibilities and if you have split off some brood and queencells you should be alright when they sort themselves out.

You should have split the hive when it was very strong. It may well be even stronger now! The queen (unless she has swarmed) is likely to depart in the very near future. Seems as though you should be splitting this colony at least into two now.

You are listed as having 5 colonies? I would be using my own queens, not buying in; I would be equalising brood among (healthy) colonies; I would not be surprised by the above happenings and am surprised that you are!

Regards, RAB
 
So off I went a bought a new queen,


You are listed as having 5 colonies? I would be using my own queens, not buying in; I would be equalising brood among (healthy) colonies; I would not be surprised by the above happenings and am surprised that you are!


Regards, RAB

:iamwithstupid:

I have to ask like RAB, why did you buy in a queen when you have (listed) 5 other hives?
 
I can see play cups in the photo - do you mean these when you say 'queen cells'?
 
It has taken a whole year to summon for help!!

Regards, RAB

No Just to write on here. I asked a Beek who sold me a queen.

Seriously (like everyone else reading this probably), I, too, am puzzled.

Bees will try tdo what they want no matter if you intervene (or even interfere!). Lots of possibilities and if you have split off some brood and queencells you should be alright when they sort themselves out.

You should have split the hive when it was very strong. It may well be even stronger now! The queen (unless she has swarmed) is likely to depart in the very near future. Seems as though you should be splitting this colony at least into two now.

You are listed as having 5 colonies? I would be using my own queens, not buying in; I would be equalising brood among (healthy) colonies; I would not be surprised by the above happenings and am surprised that you are!

Regards, RAB

At the time I only had two and the second had just been moved from a nuc.
I would have still split them but with out a queen I thought not. I was hoping buying a new one that was mated would mean I could split them in a couple of weeks at the latest. Lesson learnt


:iamwithstupid:

I have to ask like RAB, why did you buy in a queen when you have (listed) 5 other hives?

As above

I can see play cups in the photo - do you mean these when you say 'queen cells'?

They do look like play cups but they must be emergency QCs or where else did the new queen come from?

Thanks for the replies.

Pete
 
If those play cups produced a queen then my hat produced a rabbit
 
my hat produced a rabbit

mbc

Possibly... or perhaps you would eat the hat?

I didn't even look that closely - was befuddled enough by the rest of it!

With all the red paint and huge lettering recently one assumes that now, the whole world would know about a queen cell, swarming and etc!

Regards, RAB
 
Can you paint it a bit bigger and brighter please. I must have missed it.
I'm now in my third month as a beek (loosely termed) this is all very new, so please give a bit of slack. I'm sure others have had problems when they started.

I did take 66lb of honey off today. The leaf blower works great to clear the bees out of the supers. I wish I could have taken a photo at the same time.

Pete (learning about bees)
 
LEAF BLOWER!!! ye gad, i'm a new beek too but surely that will have terrified at best, or at worst, killed half of them!!
 
Presumably if you think you have a new queen you can see her or healthy eggs and brood and imho the first photo you post shows a super frame with a couple of play cups but no sign of any brood having ever been raised in the surrounding comb so its extremely unlikely any queen would have come from this area
 
LEAF BLOWER!!! ye gad, i'm a new beek too but surely that will have terrified at best, or at worst, killed half of them!!

Blowers are used a lot for clearing supers,does not kill the bee's,but it sure clears them fast, and kind of confuses them.
 
On the 17th July I committed a bad sin and accidentally killed the queen.
So now I have done a AS hooked out all but one QC and hoping alls well.

i assume you mean 17june not 17 july....otherwise i have missed my wedding anerversary AGAIN :)

but still your dates dont add up...its only 24 day as from 17 june, yet your thread says you waited to check the queen 7days later then two days later split becasue of QC waited to 24 days until...today....ok that...36 days.... worker drone layer terratory

lets have a more accurate date line, and see what if it is rejected queen and new queenvirgin laying early and lack of space due to honey block... or rejected queen and drone layer worker
 
Ah sorry I've got it wrong 17 June Now I see why I confused you all. Thats where the 23-24 days comes in. Sorry
Anyhow they all seem very happy and I'm off to collect another hive from a hedge. Its been there since the 60s and the trees bushes have grown around it.
Hope there bees inside.

Pete


PS

Leaf blower didn't kill any of them it really did just blow them off the frames. I wasn't on full.
PPS
I also did ask on the mentor ship part of the forum for help. Scott answered but is over an hour away.
 
biggles,

If you were to include your locality in your profile, you would be more likely to attract the attention of a 'more local' mentor - than they having to trawl through long-ago posts.

Regards, RAB
 
biggles,

If you were to include your locality in your profile, you would be more likely to attract the attention of a 'more local' mentor - than they having to trawl through long-ago posts.

Regards, RAB

Bee keepings easier than forums :eek: Thanks for that I'll change it, but for those thinking where is this idiot, Tunbridge wells Kent

Pete
 
Leaf blowers are used a lot as HM says but be careful, the exhaust from the engine, presuming it was a petrol one is often ducted into the air supply outlet so you could have been covering the lot in two stroke exhaust, still makes for a different taste of honey LOL seriously check where the exhaust goes out its usually a simple mod to the silencer outlet
 
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