Well, for the last 2 nights Watson Hive has been really testy and upset. I went in today to see what was up and found 2 queen cells. I went and grabbed a nuc and set those aside, getting ready to try to make them think they already swarmed. I then saw 2 more and set them aside.
I searched every frame 2 times in search of the queen. I couldn't find her. I decided to look for eggs. A lot of the middle frames that should have brood had pollen in them. I then saw bad patterns amd miss-shapen eggs and a few in the bottom of the cells together. Then it dawned on me. The queen failed and they were replacing her.
I put the queen cells back in the hive VERY carefully. I hope they can raise one. This hive was the strongest. I hate to lose this queen. She was a good girl, but I guess she used herself up. Now I hope there are good drones around here for her to mate with. I would try to Inseminate one of the virgins, but I have yet to start that project and dont want to risk losing the strain completley by doing something stupid while trying to inseminate.
So much for getting honey off this hive this year. I just put the honey supers on and they just started drawing them out....... Now by the time the queen hatches, mates and the pupae emerge, 90% of the honey flow around here will be over.
If you need any queens or queen cells to add to your diversity, I'd be willing to make a trade (even for a frame of your eggs).
ReplyDeleteI have 6 queens now (from one strong overwintered hive), and I plan on adding more from different sources. I'm just managing my hives to produce queens this year, but they have been fast to build up, so they would be good for honey production.
What part of Virginia are you in?
I am in Winston Salem, NC.
ReplyDeleteLarry Tate has a 2nd Gen Carni from Glenns that I am going to get today. I appreciate the offer.
Thank you though. I will keep you in mind for next year so that I can get some diversity like you said.