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Concerns about Carniolan shutdown

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Aroc:
 A few weeks ago I had a suspicion that our Carniolan queen shut down.   She is in the hive as I spotted her a couple of days. This is actually an observation hive.

  The hive hasn't had any brewed in it for three or four weeks now. My concern is over wintering even though it's inside. I have a way to feed them  but still concerned about the longevity of this hive if she doesn't start laying for another month or two.

 The queen isn't even a year old as she came with a package in May. Could there be something else wrong? Is there something I could do to stimulate brood production again?

 I raised this question a couple of weeks ago and anyone I spoke to didn't seem to be all that concerned. Figured it was just another Carniolan  shutting down early.

Van, Arkansas, USA:
Carniolans are known for wintering with few numbers of bees compared to other honey bees.  They are also known for rapid spring build up and subsequent swarming.

I have a carniolan hive, however this particular strain is not winter hardy, as the queen source is from Hawaii.  The winter hardiness has been breed out of this strain, is my guess.  They are a beautiful black honey bee.  My question is: my black bees are they true carniolan?  Same question applies to you.  How do we really know for sure?

Make sure they have adequate stores, and rest assured an indoor hive will be much warmer with your -30F weather.  You should have your winter bees by now in MT.  Your winter bees are physically different from your summer bees as they can store more fat, although they look the same.

My bees (North Arkansas) will shut down brooding in November, your a lot further North so I am not surprised you are already in winter mode.

Your queen knows what she is doing, no food coming in, so no brood to feed and keep warm.  This is what you want.  Keep us posted.  No fires in your area??
Blessings

Van, Arkansas, USA:
I should add, today I saw 2 hives hatching my winter bees and doing their orientation flights.  My summer bees will soon all perish.  In early spring, February or March, every winter bee will perish and my summer bees will emerge.  I always see a bunch of dead bees on the ground at the change over.  This did not occur to my hives when I lived on the coast.
Blessings

little john:
I agree with what Van has written: this is what Carnie's do.  I can't comment on American Carnies, but the brood rearing of my own 'Old World' Carnies appears to be a function of two triggers: the season, and the availability of fresh pollen.

Whether a 'seasonal trigger' involves changes in temperature or changes in day-length - couldn't say for sure, but the availability of fresh pollen is most definitely involved.  Right now (October 13), pollen is coming into my apiary in shed-loads.  Heaven only knows where they're sourcing it - probably from remnants of brassica crops in fields which have been abandonded after cropping and allowed to run to seed - and as a result, brood is currently being raised in fair numbers.  But just as soon as those fields are fully cleared within the next week or two, I fully expect colonies to begin shutting down for the winter.

Then, come spring, fresh pollen starts to come in again, and the colonies duly 'explode' in numbers.  Dynamic brood-rearing - classic Carnie behaviour.
LJ

BeeMaster2:
If you feed the bees 1 to 1 sugar water, you will probably induce the queen to start laying again.
I just lost my OH queen due to usurpation. Neither queen survived. The new queen just mated 2 days ago so I am feeding her to get cycle of winter bees.
Jim

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