Q present but multiple eggs in cells

[chive]

Hello
First proper inspection. Hive is damp inside. Brood box has grey mould growing out of cells with pollen in. There is a super on (no Qu excluder) - Qu present, multiple eggs in the few cells she has laid in super. Small colony and pitch of bees' 'hum' not right.
All other colonies thriving.
Any ideas?

 

[Moggs]

More history on this would be beneficial - what was the status going into winter?

 

[Finman]

Hello
Hive is damp inside.

Hive is too cold. Condensation happens inside the hive.
Too much space.

Brood box has grey mould growing out of cells with pollen in. There is a super on (no Qu excluder) - Qu present, multiple eggs in the few cells she has laid in super. Small colony and pitch of bees' 'hum' not right.
All other colonies thriving.
Any ideas?

Sounds to me that a small colony and too much space.

Difficult to say what is proplem with the queen. It may be sick but it may be that it has not enough cells where to lay. Eggs come out but it search for empty cells.

I have noticed too that if an atenna is violated/dry/missing .., the queen cannot control what she does.

 

[enrico]

Your main problem is the damp. If you have opened your hive in the winter for oa treatment one of the downsides is you breaking the propolis seals and the water can seep in, or the hive did not have enough airflow and you had condensation build up. If you have any fresh drawn brood comb swap it for the mouldy stuff. Try to keep what brood there is in a clump. HM laying more than one egg...... Could be one of several reasons. New queens sometimes take a while to perfect their laying. Was she a late autumn queen? Are hatching bees healthy? As moggs said we could do with a bit more info!!
E

 

[chive]

Hello
All was fine. They were the result of another colony swarming in June. End of season they were a smallish colony but had stores, so didn't feed in Autumn. Treated with Apiguard in Sept. Popped a super with 5 frames on in Jan. Damp in lid so put matchsticks under crownboard, then. Bees bringing in pollen and seemed active on warmer days til 10 days ago when many ladybirds appeared on landing board. Inspected yesterday and colony not good. No other brood than a few cells with multiple 1-2 day old eggs in.
Thanks
Fiona

 

[Moggs]

Hello
All was fine. They were the result of another colony swarming in June. End of season they were a smallish colony but had stores, so didn't feed in Autumn. Treated with Apiguard in Sept. Popped a super with 5 frames on in Jan. Damp in lid so put matchsticks under crownboard, then. Bees bringing in pollen and seemed active on warmer days til 10 days ago when many ladybirds appeared on landing board. Inspected yesterday and colony not good. No other brood than a few cells with multiple 1-2 day old eggs in.
Thanks
Fiona

Hi Fiona - unfortunately all was not fine! A small colony will not go into winter in that state - you could have considered uniting with another colony. I can't understand why you would have wanted to put a super on in January - this could have been a death sentence for them as they would not have been able to maintain warmth and would not have readily gone up to get any stores. I'm surprised that they have gone this far. Matchsticks would have made the effects of cold even worse. Are you sure that you have a queen? The brood cells that you can see - are they drone brood?

 

[chive]

Thank you for your replies. I am keen to get into hive again this afternoon to sort. As I said, have several other happy colonies to work with. My plan from the replies so far, is to:
- take 3 drawn brood frames from other hives (with or without brood??);
- move colony on 2 super frames (with super frames) into brood box;
- remove super altogether
- feed 1:1 sugar solution in frame feeder
- turn hive 180 degrees so entrance can catch AM sun
- leave them be for 48 hours
Any improvements on this, appreciated
Thanks

 

[Moggs]

I must have missed something - what replies?
Can you afford to deplete other colonies of brood at this time of year? I wouldn't for the sake of such a sick colony.
Move them on to super frames - why?
Remove super - I certainly would.
Turn hive - I wouldn't bother upsetting them any more than they are.

More information would still help - how many seams of bees? How much brood? General appearance of bees and health? etc.

 

[chive]

Thanks Moggs
Yes there is a Qu. Probably should have united. How many frames should bees cover for them to be large enough colony to go into winter? Understood that bees can be fed early in year.

 

[chive]

Thanks Finman
I will check her antenna!

 

[chive]

Your main problem is the damp. If you have opened your hive in the winter for oa treatment one of the downsides is you breaking the propolis seals and the water can seep in, or the hive did not have enough airflow and you had condensation build up. If you have any fresh drawn brood comb swap it for the mouldy stuff. Try to keep what brood there is in a clump. HM laying more than one egg...... Could be one of several reasons. New queens sometimes take a while to perfect their laying. Was she a late autumn queen? Are hatching bees healthy? As moggs said we could do with a bit more info!!
E

Thanks Enrico - appreciate your response! Always good to have some helpful ideas and advice!

 

[Moggs]

Numbers of bees going into winter isn't the primary consideration - it's the management of them. You can take a nuc through winter with careful management. Feeding early in the season equates to about 'now' in the beekeeping year in the UK - in the middle of January, your bees were likely to have been tightly clustered and not at all keen to move up into a fresh super, however tempting the fare. I think you need to make a careful appraisal of the colony strength and potential - especially your queen. Perhaps some photo's of this hive as I see that you are well experienced in bee photography?

 

[chive]

Moggs, it's better to do something than nothing. Taking advice when you know there's a problem seems to be a good step! ;-)
As the bees are already on the super frames then probably best to avoid moving them off these frames, wouldn't you say? Bees' general health is good. 2 seams.

 

[Moggs]

Fiona - I would question the advice that you have been given as in this case it seems that it has not done much good! I would certainly get them out of that super and get a good queen laying into some brood frames -you will need to 'dummy down' the space with few frames, or better still, get them into a smaller box so that they can focus their efforts. However, all of this is academic until you have established that you have a healthy and properly productive queen. With only 2 seams of bees (probably 'old' bees, by now) and failing brood, the chances are not good. Also I'd advise that you look for disease - in the few bees that are there.