Queenless Hive

[Loubylou]

I am pretty sure that I don't have a queen anymore as I haven't seen or had evidence of her for over a month now. Will the colony, if it survives, be ok without her over the winter and what should I do regarding getting another in place for next year?

 

[drex]

"No evidence" - I assume you mean no eggs. If so, it means no eggs for a month = no winter bees. The summer bees will dwindle and die and the colony will just fade away.

Your profile says you only have 1 colony, but you are in herefordshire, therefore there might be time to requeen but it is getting very late, and is the colony worth saving, or is it better to start afresh next year?

A bit more detail about inspections would help. Have you asked an experienced beek to have a look?

 

[drstitson]

"If so, it means no eggs for a month = no winter bees. The summer bees will dwindle and die and the colony will just fade away."

No - the lack of brood rearing will prevent the "summer" bees from aging.

 

[Finman]

No - the lack of brood rearing will prevent the "summer" bees from aging.

yes, that is the fact
last emerged brood are winter bees.

My winterbees emerge at the end of August and live up to May.

No problems on UK leVels.

Perhaps virgin drone layer will appear in spring.

.
.

 

[enrico]

I am pretty sure that I don't have a queen anymore as I haven't seen or had evidence of her for over a month now. Will the colony, if it survives, be ok without her over the winter and what should I do regarding getting another in place for next year?

It's one of those 'suck it and see' situations. Gut reaction? They will still be there in the spring and the non existent queen will be laying well! If I am wrong I apologise but so many times you will think you are queen less when you are not! To be honest there is not much you can do even if they are queen less so start sucking and keep your fingers crossed!
E

 

[Loubylou]

Ok, thanks for that. Is there any way of detecting her at this time of year if you can't or haven't seen her for several weeks? Any tell tale signs to look out for?

 

[Alabamaeee]

When did you last do an inspection and how did they behave? If they are still active I would expect they would be noisy and bad tempered if they are Q- but that's only what I have experienced with mine as a second year beek.

As others said you need to provide more info.

 

[Headnavigator]

Ok, thanks for that. Is there any way of detecting her at this time of year if you can't or haven't seen her for several weeks? Any tell tale signs to look out for?

My guess is that you'd be more likely to do harm than good if you were to take the hive apart looking for her now. If the colony seem calm and happy and are taking in feed for the winter I would bet on the queen being in there somewhere.
Good luck

 

[drex]

Thanks all, you stimulated me to look further. Interesting article about role of vitellogenin and "fat bees".

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/fat-bees-part-1/

Got it wrong. Learned something. Thanks

 

[Loubylou]

I inspected my hive last Sunday and interestingly Alabamaeee they were noisier than usual and more angry too.
I have inspected regularly since getting them as a swarm in May this year and the queen was laying very well all summer seen until the 13th Sept and they were always very placid and lovely. I have inspected 3 times since and noticed a change in temperament and not seen the queen at all. Meanwhile we had a lot of deaths (see earlier) due to unknown circumstances. But there is a core of busy/healthy bees still in and out of the hive. They were not taking any syrup for about a month until yesterday when I noticed the levels dropped a lot in my rapid feeder, thank goodness. They were treated 2 times for varroa in August.
If I have no queen should i be doing something now or should I wait until the spring. Are there some other signs I should be looking for that would let me know she is there still?

 

[drex]

At my last few inspections I only saw 1 queen out of 8, and I have not inspected for a while now. I know that there were queens in there however.

As the old timers on here say it is rare for a hive to be Q- ( but it has been a funny year).

Rather than trying to look for a queen all the time, all you really need is to look for good reliable evidence that she is still there i.e. eggs and brood. What you see will give you a time line ( see length of time of brood stages) and indication of her laying rate.

Queens can go off lay during thymol treatment for varroa, but you did that in August, so any queen would be back in lay now.

Fitting mouseguards on my hives recently the bees were very angry and came pouring out. Does not mean a lot. Certainly not worried

 

[Loubylou]

At last inspection (Sunday just gone) there was no evidence of brood at all, and none for about a month. But today I have noticed pollen going in, is this a sign of 'her' being present?? Also lots of bees outside the hive seem to be feeding each other, is that normal?