# Did my queen die?



## Brandon (May 1, 2009)

Got a new hive this year, and I've checked it a time or two, and I can't seem to find any brood cells. I haven't checked all the frames, but I've checked enough to know that something seems wrong. I've had the bees for almost two months now. Did my queen die sometime between putting them in and now?


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## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

Brandon said:


> Got a new hive this year, and I've checked it a time or two, and I can't seem to find any brood cells. I haven't checked all the frames, but I've checked enough to know that something seems wrong. I've had the bees for almost two months now. Did my queen die sometime between putting them in and now?


As a new beekeeper, you should be checking your hive much more frequently, every two weeks as a minimum - it's how you learn. Plus, more frequent checking helps to spot problems sooner rather than later.

That said, yes, the queen may have died, Or, the colony may have swarmed and left it queenless. If you don't see any brood, then perhaps you can successfully requeen. The danger is that a colony that is queenless will eventually produce laying workers, and that's a more difficult problem.

Do you have a mentor or know any nearby beekeepers? I always recommend that new beekeepers get involved with a local club if possible, so that when problems arise they can benefit from having some more experienced beeks come over and take a look. 
http://www.tnbeekeepers.org/locals.htm


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## Brandon (May 1, 2009)

I do check my hive regularly, like every week. That's why I started to notice a problem.

No the bees didn't swarm.

I wouldn't trust the local beekeepers in my area. They all give conflicting advice and much of it isn't good. Particularly, one caused the death of a hive when telling my relatives to put a certain kind of poison on their hive because it would take care of... I dont' remember, mites maybe, but wouldn't harm the bees. Anyway, through an extension program they attended, they found out you specifically don't want to do that because it would kill bees.

Anyway, this is the second year I've had bees, and the first year, they died. If they die again, I probably won't waste anymore money. If they're that high maintenance, I don't want to waste my time.


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

Bees don't have to be that high maintenance...

www.lazybeekeeping.com


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## Brandon (May 1, 2009)

I actually printed off that section yesterday afternoon. 

I got to check more on the bees last night. In three combs, I have brood, but there's not nearly as much as I would've hoped, so does that mean there is a queen that's just not doing her job, or has she just died recently?

To top it all off, I've noticed some flies near the hive. I assume because of the sugar water. I actually saw maggots on one side of one of my frames last night. So what do I do with that?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

*Not enough information to tell what you have going on.*

(1. were the bees a package this spring? 
(2. did they have drawn comb or foundation to start with?
(3. what kind of foundation were they on?
(4. Just what do you see when you look at the frames?
(5. Have you seen the queen at all after her release from the cage?
(6. How do the workers react when just looking at the entrance?
(7. How are they when you have the hive open NOISY?

One of the best things about joining a club is the *many ideas *each bee keeper has. One old fellow who took me under his wing when I started out told me to never be afraid to expermint, He was right too.
Also the club members are what made me what I am as a bee keeper today. 
Yes our clubs has that one idiot just like every group has, but you soon learn not to listen to the idiot, Just watch how the other members react around them.

 Al


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## Brandon (May 1, 2009)

1. Yes package bees
2. They had drawn comb from the bees I had last year.
3. I think regular wax foundation purchased from a supply compnay.
4. Some frames are empty, some have hondy, on three of them, there are brood cells- one of those is fairly solid, but the other two have sparse cells.
5. No, but I didn't really look for her until last night.
6. The workers have never been problematic. This may be a problem, but I've never had to use smoke with these. I'm just very, very gentle moving things, and they rarely pay me any attention.
7. They are somewhat noisy, but not nearly as much as a full hive. I suspect it's because there aren't as many bees making noise.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Sounds as if you have a queen not doing her job. Also if there isn't many bees in the hive to cover brood she won't lay more than that. The magot was probably wax moth larva. That will be a mess if they infested your weak hive.

 Al


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## Brandon (May 1, 2009)

Well, I haven't seen any other sign of wax moths, just large flies (not house flies). Of course I am surrounded by cattle pasture. The maggots are just on one frame, and I didn't have time to do anything about it last night, but I will tonight.

If the queen's not doing her job, what should I do to get my hive going better?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

You have a few choices with the queen not doing her job.
(1. Find her and step on her after you have a new queen to replace her with.
(2. find her and put her into a nuc to watch and a new queen in the main hive.
(3. just let nature take its course but I feel that is the wrong choice.

I would probaly try Number 2 first since the queen is young. I had a queen take a two week vacation once, since my wife doesn'tlike me to dispatch them I put her in a nuc and installed a new queen in the hive. After two weeks that vacationing queen took off and was better than the new queen. We now have many of her daughters in our hives. 

 Al


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## Brandon (May 1, 2009)

That really only leaves one problem... Finding the queen. I haven't had much luck so far. I think I know the answer to this, but what if I ordered a new queen and never found the old queen and just installed the new one anyway hoping the other one was dead? Would I just be killing a new queen?


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

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


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

If the queen isn't laying because the eggs she has already laid aren't getting covered or taken care of, can't you slip a frame of brood with nurse bees on it?
-Catherine


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## Brandon (May 1, 2009)

It's my only hive, so...

Anywas, looked for the queen. A couple of times, I found what I thought might possibly be a queen, but I saw two or three. They were larger, but I'm guessing they were just another bee type...

On a different note, it seemed there was more activity at the hive entrance than normal. I don't think it was swarm activity, but it did surprise me because it seemed they were more active then than they ever have been this year.


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

Drones are often mistaken by a newbee for a queen. Drones have very large eyes, and blunt behinds and are not tapered and long like a queen. They are more stocky and bug eyed. A queen is long and slender. There are many pictures on the internet of queens. Yours may vary in color but the basic proportions should match.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

A couple of queens. 

The drones also have very hairy butts.

 Al


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## Brandon (May 1, 2009)

I thought they might be drones, but oddly enough, they weren't very blunt shaped. The color actually threw me because I couldn't remember what color my queen was when I put her in there, but the bees I saw were longer and more slender. I guess I'll have to look again.


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