Queen less ?

[David Woodward]

I have one hive which I've had for over a year, I haven't seen the queen at all this year. plenty of bees and some drones. yesterdays inspection didn't see any eggs, sealed brood or queen cells.
Now I don't know what to do, if there was a queen cell I would have left it but nothing.
Bees are flying and bringing in stores, made half a super of honey but seem inactive for the amount of bees in the hive. What should I do ??

 

[Boston Bees]

I have one hive which I've had for over a year, I haven't seen the queen at all this year. plenty of bees and some drones. yesterdays inspection didn't see any eggs, sealed brood or queen cells.
Now I don't know what to do, if there was a queen cell I would have left it but nothing.
Bees are flying and bringing in stores, made half a super of honey but seem inactive for the amount of bees in the hive. What should I do ??

It would help for you to also give information on the last 2 or 3 inspections. When were they? What did you see in the way of brood?

 

[Anduril]

By inactive do you mean not foraging?

 

[ericbeaumont]

Bees are flying and bringing in stores

Are they putting nectar in brood combs where you would expect the queen to lay? Is the pollen glazed?

 

[David Woodward]

The last 3 inspections have all been the same. not seen the queen, there is nectar in the brood combs where I would expect to see eggs or sealed brood or even brood hatching which I have seen a couple of months ago.
by saying inactive I mean for the amount of bees in the hive there's not many coming and going, maybe 4 or 5 every minute but the brood box is packed with bees when I remove each frame. must say I didn't look to see if the pollen was glazed.
Thanks for your replies so far.

 

[ericbeaumont]

last 3 inspections have all been the same

How regularly have you inspected all season? It may be that you missed a swarm, the virgin failed and the colony is queenless. Of course, there could be a virgin in there and it can take up to a month for mating & laying to start, so chronology of checks is important.

Are you able to ask for a frame (or a cut-out patch) of eggs & young larvae from a local beekeeper? Wrap it in a damp tea towel and then kitchen foil to keep it warm and prevent drying. If bees make EQCs on the larvae you know that they're queenless.

One advantage of running a minimum of two colonies is that you can resolve this need easily.

Nectar in the brood nest is common when a heavy flow is on and there is insufficient super space to park it, whether the colony is queenright or queenless.

If bees do not expect to use pollen to feed larvae (as there is no laying queen) they will glaze pollen with honey to preserve it.

 

[Anduril]

Could you check to see if there are a mound of dead bees on the hive floor, this may be restricting the activity and could be a reason for not seeing the queen.

 

[David Woodward]

Thanks for your response Ericbeaumont and Anduril

Yes I have a contact who could provide me with a frame of eggs / larvae and will do this if required.

I will check the floor for dead bees also.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[enrico]

Thanks for your response Ericbeaumont and Anduril

Yes I have a contact who could provide me with a frame of eggs / larvae and will do this if required.

I will check the floor for dead bees also.
Thanks for the advice.

A test frame..... But they do go off lay so you may yet be surprised!