# 1 week old hive questions



## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

Alright, I got my hive as a nuc a week ago. There was no queen in the nuc, so one was ordered (marked) and her cage was put into the hive, per the instructions. I opened the hive today just to check on things, and the queen had been released, but I did not see her anywhere. She was clearly marked when she came, so I should have seen her. Now come my questions.

Most of the frames in the hive body are now full of honey and a bit of pollen. There is one frame with a tiny amount of capped brood left, but no eggs, no larvae. I did find two opened queen cells (even though the guy I bought the nucs from supposedly made sure there weren't any). If the bees made their own queen, that is fine, so long as there is a queen in the colony. There is one nearly full super frame of honey, the rest are still just foundation, so they have plenty to eat. I did not see any queen, marked or unmarked, today in the hive. 

So, when should I check on them again, and when should I start looking for a new queen if one is needed? I am hoping that I either somehow overlooked the marked queen or a new queen was on her mating flight while I was checking the hive. There was a fair amount of drones, but not more than 15% I would say, and very few drone cells. 

I am new to this, and there is only so much that reading can tell you. Any advice would be appreciated. Now, if the hive has made a new queen, I'm going to have to convince my mentor that she doesn't need replacing with a bought queen!

Thanks,
Emily 

PS - Sorry I ramble a bit.


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

>She was clearly marked when she came, so I should have seen her. Now come my questions.

It's quite easy to not see a marked queen. In fact they are not that much easier to find, just easier to clearly identify when you do find them.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenspotting.htm

The other problem is that sometimes a caged queen takes as much as two weeks to start laying. Sometimes they lay right off and sometimes they don't. And, course, there is the possibility that they killed her. But if they did I would expect to find that nicely marked queen out front in the grass...


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

If the nuc didn't have a queen in it but there were eggs or even some older larva the workers could very well make some queens cells as they know they won't live long with out one. *BUT*it takes a couple of weeks for the Queen to hatch go on a mating flight and return. I always figure at least 30 days to see eggs from a new hatched queen cell.

The marked queen could have been in there. Some times the workers don't like the paint on the queen so will groom it off. I don't keep up on the years colors but it seems red is a hard one to keep on the queen.

Give a caged queen a couple of weeks to start laying.

*JOIN A CLUB, JOIN A CLUB, JOIN A CLUB.* You can get some help and answers from those experinced persons. They can look at your nuc/hive with a practiced eye then tell you what you have.

 Al


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## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

I'm already a member of the local beekeepers association, it's just that I doubt any of them would have been awake at 2 am last night, lol. I did not see the marked queen in front of the hive, so that's a good sign. She was marked with light blue. The hive was extremely gentle yesterday, and I barely even used the smoker when I first opened it up. I guess I'll need to learn a bit more patience and study more. I'll check them again once school is out, which my last exam is on May 5th, so that should give them another week and a half to get better established. 

Thanks for calming my fears!
Emily


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

There is no insurance quite as good as a frame of open brood and eggs in situations like this. It gives them the resources to deal with the problem and you the assurance that you're not waiting for something that won't happen, like a queen to start laying that isn't there. Meanwhile they can resolve the problem, if there is one, or they get a boost, if there isn't one.


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## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

I probably won't be able to get a frame of open brood and eggs. This is my only hive, and I've worked very hard just to find these little girls. If all else fails, and I don't see at least eggs the next time I open the hive (which will probably be this Wednesday or Thursday) I'll call one of my neighbors and see if I can beg a frame from him. 

I'll try to keep everyone updated. I still have the feeling that I just overlooked her. In the queen cage, she wasn't much bigger than a worker, and if she hasn't started laying yet, she may still be nearly the size of a worker. I'm hoping that she's in there and she will start to lay soon. I went back and checked the ground in front of the hive today, there were a couple of drones and expired workers, but defiantly no marked queen.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Get one of the club members to go in the hive with you. Even one with a couple years experince has a better idea of what to look for than a newbe.

How did the hive sound? was it loud and buzzy with listless acting workers. If so you are queen less. 

How was the comings and going in and out of the hive? was their a lot of activity or a bunch of bees just standing about on the landing board. If the latter your queen less.
It takes time to learn the sounds of a happy hive and one under duress.

 Al


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## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

The hive sounded good, not very loud, and the workers were coming and going at a fairly good pace. I didn't even need to use my smoker for the last 20 minutes I was up there they were so calm. 

I've heard an angry hive before, not a sound I ever want to hear again!


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## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

Just checked the hive again yesterday. The second frame I pulled out of the top hive body had a beautiful spread of eggs and the queen was near the bottom of the frame. It is not the queen that we bought, but a beautiful queen doing her job nonetheless. The bees were so calm yesterday that I will probably forgo my gloves the next time I check on them, and as I become more comfortable with my hive, wear less and less protective clothing until I am comfortable heat wise.


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## Cascade Failure (Jan 30, 2007)

Some questions that were prompted here....

Have observed bees carrying off the dead a good 50 ft before losing sight of them. Why so far? Does this indicate something? Seems to be a waste of energy to go so far.

Packages 3 days in hives. Entrance reducer in place. What appears to be a bottleneck at reducers. 50-60 bees waiting to get in. Seems orderly and does not meet my understanding of robbing. Checking queens for release on Saturday. Should I use the next larger opening then?

Sorry for the drift maid.


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## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

I haven't a clue about your questions. My dead bees are just tossed out of the front, and I did not use an entrance reducer, since I started with pretty much the equivalent of a nucleus colony. My hive will be 4 weeks old tomorrow, and yesterday was the first indication of eggs and a laying queen. You may wish to start another thread addressing your questions so that they don't get lost on this thread.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

They are hygenic bees so the pall bearers transport the dead away from the hive. They may return with baskets full of pollen and nectar.

You can open the hive entrance up bigger as soon as there is a flow going on. I suppect that is all over the USA to date.

You wll know robbing when it ever happens.

 Al


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## Cascade Failure (Jan 30, 2007)

Thanks Al, I opened the entrances to the next size a few hours ago.


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