Queen stoped laying (Part 476)

[user 15607]

Yeah I know, been done before, but this is June, my apparently prolific queen has stopped laying, she was going great guns then suddenly stoped, she still there looks healthy as does the hive, Ok we've probably had a pause in the nectar flow but I've fed to keep up the momentum, Ive been giving her the benefit of the doubt but now have a hive without any brood, should I just wait with fingers crossed ?

 

[Paul in Poole]

This has happened to me too ! My best hive is now broodless but the queen is there happily walking around like she owns the place.
I will be interested to see any replies.

 

[rickyd20]

A few of mine have done this too during June.

 

[oliver90owner]

She may or she may not. Your choice on how long you wait.

If the workers have stopped feeding her (so much) they will restart her laying when conditions improve (larvae need pollen as well as nectar). If she is looking even larger than normal, it is likely not the workers which have decided to stop her laying.

Presuming the queen is marked? We have, in the past, had one member claiming one of her queens laid up a whole brood box in ten days and then stopped laying (for a rest?).

If I were at all bothered by the situation (nowt you can do to make her restart if it is never going to happen) I would be popping her into a nuc, with sufficient bees to support her, and add a frame with eggs or queen/queen cell to the hive part to get it going. Your choice, really.

 

[Finman]

.
My weathers are changing all the time from bad to good. I have ensured protein feeding with pollen patty up to these days: Irradiated pollen + soya+dried yeast.

Even with patty feeding laying goes to half when bees do not get yield from nature. Colonies react to this more or less.

 

[Finman]

.
If you have crystallized honey in combs, now it is opportunity to give them to bees. It starts brooding.

Uncap combs with pressure washer and give the whole box to the hive. Better to put the box lowest.

 

[Teemore]

Busibee,
You have noted that your colony experienced a pause in the nectar flow. This is usually associated with what beekeepers will refer to as "The June Gap". [Apologies if you know this already]. Some years the gap is pronounced and other years it isn't noticable. Not only is there a gap in the nectar flow as Spring flowering plants lose their bloom and the summer plants are yet to blossom, it is also a pollen gap. With no pollen, the bees will not rear young. Some colonies seem to be adapted to dealing with the pollen gap and heavily store pollen in and around the brood nest ahead of the forage gap. Colonies such as this will manage their brood rearing at a slightly reduced level until they can forage for pollen again. Colonies with no inclination to store pollen will experience a gap in brood rearing sooner. This links nicely to the point that the June Gap is often a brood gap also.
I qualify these comments with my observation that there has been no real June gap in my area this year and further, that forage plants are consistantly running three weeks ahead of 2016 in terms of blooming. If you have been feeding this colony, have they still room in the brood box for the queen to lay or is the brood nest congested with stores?

 

[For want of a better word]

A few of my Native colonies have gone off lay... seems talking to other keepers of black bees in Cornwall that this is not uncommon following the dearth of nectar ( June gap?)
The yellow exotics have all needed feeding but just continue to lay, designed for a different climate?

As with Tractor man.. give her a chance!

Yeghes da

 

[Teemore]

icanhopit,
What quantities of pollen do you see in your AMM stocks in the run up to the "June Gap"? It was a criticism of "the old bees", that they would supposedly fill the brood box with pollen and yet this kept them going through the June Gap. My bees go into overdrive on pollen foraging towards the end of May before the Spring flows go over and they store copious amounts of pollen but by no means is the BB packed out. I do not see the same levels of pollen being stored through the rest of the honey season. Brood gaps occur when the stored pollen is beginning to run low. (I dont go poking through the bees when the ivy starts so I have no idea of the extent to which they store ivy pollen) AMM do react in a good way to weather and forage changes.

 

[Sadders]

Mine stopped laying about a month or so. She was a good layer but very small.

Decided to commit regicide as there was no evidence off eggs or larva.

New queen went in a few days later and I had a quick inspection - about 20 QC's.

Think I need to get some new glasses!

Anyway, new queen is laying well so not much lost.

 

[Paul in Poole]

Just to report back the queen is laying again and has filled the brood chamber with brood which is now capped. I would say she stopped laying for at least three weeks in early June.

 

[enrico]

Thanks for the update. Queens do go off lay and patience is nearly always the answer.
E

 

[blacksheep]

She probably did not get mated well enough to be a great queen!