Antipodes
Queen Bee
Inspected a colony yesterday. First frame had a queen cell on it and the colony was a little smaller than I had hoped for. No eggs but capped larvae. I thought the queen had died perhaps, but the next frame had the queen on it. She is a young queen who had been laying well enough. Photos attached.
I put the frame to one side for 10 minutes while I got something to put the queen in, (it was 34 degrees so they were happy), and when I came back she was on the dark side laying an egg. I found two eggs there ...presumably both just laid as they were in that spot where I saw her laying, but they were the only eggs in the hive that I could see. Anyhow, to be on the safe side to avoid a swarm, I took the queen away but left the queen cell. It was almost like the worker bees were stopping her laying and when the frame was out of the hive against the fence, she took an opportunity to start laying eggs whilst the workers were distracted??
I put the frame to one side for 10 minutes while I got something to put the queen in, (it was 34 degrees so they were happy), and when I came back she was on the dark side laying an egg. I found two eggs there ...presumably both just laid as they were in that spot where I saw her laying, but they were the only eggs in the hive that I could see. Anyhow, to be on the safe side to avoid a swarm, I took the queen away but left the queen cell. It was almost like the worker bees were stopping her laying and when the frame was out of the hive against the fence, she took an opportunity to start laying eggs whilst the workers were distracted??