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Author Topic: Strange worker behavior with new (unmated?) queen  (Read 1121 times)

Offline trish

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Strange worker behavior with new (unmated?) queen
« on: May 27, 2017, 11:04:50 pm »
Hi Everyone, 

I'm a very new beekeeper (1 month) and I'm having an issue with one of my hives.

I installed a 2 new packages into 2 hives the beginning of the month.  One hive is doing fine and seems to be going along as expected.  The second hive is the problem.  I installed the package on 29 April and released the queen 5 days later.   By the fifth day after releasing the queen there was larva present however by day 7, there was capped larva but no eggs and I wasn't able to find the queen (she was marked!).  There was also the start of queen cups.  The explanation from the package provider was that there was probably a queen in with the workers (which is why the brood was capped so early) so the queens fought it out.  But it seems like both perished :cry:  The queen cups continued to develop (in the center of the frames) and on 21 May, I did see empty queen cups and did find the new queen!!  My best guess is that today she is 5 - 10 days old.

I was checking the outside of the hives late in the day today (around 7pm, about 65degrees) and there were a lot of the girls buzzing above the hive and many crawling around the front of the hive - this is unusual since this time of night, it is usually quiet especially since it was cooler than usual.  The other hive was very quiet with only a few guard bees at the entrance. 

Is this something to be worried about?  I opened and inspected the hive a week ago and everything seemed ok.  I checked the hive from the outside 2 days ago and it was quiet.  I am going to open the hive tomorrow as long as it's warm and dry.  Any advice or am I just being a nervous new 'mom'?  Thanks!!!

Offline Acebird

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Re: Strange worker behavior with new (unmated?) queen
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2017, 08:43:28 am »
My advice is to stay out of the hive for a couple of weeks so the queen comes back mated to an organized colony.  If it is going to swarm you are not going to stop it at this point.
Brian Cardinal
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Offline cao

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Re: Strange worker behavior with new (unmated?) queen
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2017, 11:49:27 am »
Welcome  :happy:.

If you have a new queen then she has to go on mating flights.  When that happens there are usually lots of bees flying out with her.  The bees on the outside of the hive will help her find her way back.  I agree with Acebird.  Leave them alone for a couple of weeks and let the queen have some 'alone time'.

Offline trish

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Re: Strange worker behavior with new (unmated?) queen
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2017, 03:59:20 pm »
Thanks for the advice!!  I'm always eager to take a peek to try and make sure everything is going well - I forget they probably want some alone time too!  Since the weather has been generally cool, cloudy and rainy the past few days, I figured they would be cranky and left them alone.  I'll stay away and see what happens in a week or two.

 

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