Deaner666
New Bee
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2011
- Messages
- 22
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Cornwall
- Hive Type
- Commercial
- Number of Hives
- 2
Hello all, two posts in as many minutes!
Quick question:
I'm in my second year of beekeeping and have two hives - one I've had since the beginning of last summer and a hived swarm I caught about 6 weeks ago (see the other thread I just posted!).
On inspecting our more established hive last Wednesday (25th July) I stumbled across the queen. I think.
I don't usually concentrate on finding the queen, as long as there are eggs and larvae I figure she's in there laying away. Especially at this time of the year as the hive is absolutely heaving with bees, making it very hard to see anything.
However, as I quickly glanced over a frame, lo and behold, there was a bee with a very prominent white painted dot on its thorax. It was so obviously a painted dot that it had to be the queen. But boy, if it was, she wasn't looking in her prime! Last year she looked like a queen from any of the books, but this bee was barely bigger than a worker and smaller than a drone. She looked shrivelled up!
She was a new queen last year (as far as I know), so this is only her second year. And she's been a phenomenal layer throughout this year. Brood is still looking extensive and healthy as we move into August.
Is it common for queens to visibly deteriorate like this as they get older? And if not should I be thinking of requeening the hive?
I think I remember in Ted Hoopers book (or was it something by Brother Adam) that queens should be replaced after their second year anyway. Do people here agree with that?
Cheers,
Dave
Quick question:
I'm in my second year of beekeeping and have two hives - one I've had since the beginning of last summer and a hived swarm I caught about 6 weeks ago (see the other thread I just posted!).
On inspecting our more established hive last Wednesday (25th July) I stumbled across the queen. I think.
I don't usually concentrate on finding the queen, as long as there are eggs and larvae I figure she's in there laying away. Especially at this time of the year as the hive is absolutely heaving with bees, making it very hard to see anything.
However, as I quickly glanced over a frame, lo and behold, there was a bee with a very prominent white painted dot on its thorax. It was so obviously a painted dot that it had to be the queen. But boy, if it was, she wasn't looking in her prime! Last year she looked like a queen from any of the books, but this bee was barely bigger than a worker and smaller than a drone. She looked shrivelled up!
She was a new queen last year (as far as I know), so this is only her second year. And she's been a phenomenal layer throughout this year. Brood is still looking extensive and healthy as we move into August.
Is it common for queens to visibly deteriorate like this as they get older? And if not should I be thinking of requeening the hive?
I think I remember in Ted Hoopers book (or was it something by Brother Adam) that queens should be replaced after their second year anyway. Do people here agree with that?
Cheers,
Dave