bob writes:
Maybe a dumb question, but do queens take a time out when the weather gets hot, or am I sensing correctly that there is trouble in paradise?
tecumseh:
maybe in texas but never in minnesota (ha). an exception to this is that here on occasions the lack of anything coming in the front door will shut the queens egg laying down. a small bit of feed added over a short period tells all here.
just casually it sounds like the hive has no queen. if the very last of the brood is about hatched??? then a critical clock is running and a queen needs to be established before the hive goes all wrong.
first you need to look closely at anything that looks like a queen cell (or what may remain of a queen cell). as bjorn has suggested at or about the time a new queen is about to lay a hive begins polishing areas of brood within the central brood area. it will have a low sheen polished look and by appearance the worker bees appear to not like to tread over these newly polished 'floors' (you may visually first note that there are significant areas on the face of the frame with no bee attached).
if you notice no positive signs of the presence of a queen then depending on season (or length of season left) you may need to acquire a mated queen or possible combine.
Maybe a dumb question, but do queens take a time out when the weather gets hot, or am I sensing correctly that there is trouble in paradise?
tecumseh:
maybe in texas but never in minnesota (ha). an exception to this is that here on occasions the lack of anything coming in the front door will shut the queens egg laying down. a small bit of feed added over a short period tells all here.
just casually it sounds like the hive has no queen. if the very last of the brood is about hatched??? then a critical clock is running and a queen needs to be established before the hive goes all wrong.
first you need to look closely at anything that looks like a queen cell (or what may remain of a queen cell). as bjorn has suggested at or about the time a new queen is about to lay a hive begins polishing areas of brood within the central brood area. it will have a low sheen polished look and by appearance the worker bees appear to not like to tread over these newly polished 'floors' (you may visually first note that there are significant areas on the face of the frame with no bee attached).
if you notice no positive signs of the presence of a queen then depending on season (or length of season left) you may need to acquire a mated queen or possible combine.
