THE QUEEN IS GONE

After sadly losing my first colony of honey bees over the winter, I was "beeless" until the middle of May when I picked up two new hives. There's an energy that bees bring to bee lovers, and looking out my kitchen window to empty hive boxes from the end of February to mid May, left me with an odd feeling of emptiness and loss.  I was so excited to be bringing that beautiful bee energy back into my life.

I think my bees originally journeyed from California to Colorado. I then I drove them four hours from the city to their new home with me in a small, mountain town. One hive was doing well from day one. The girls were bringing in brightly colored pollen in no time. My other hive was smaller and I saw much less pollen going in.  I'd also been forewarned that it was a weak hive.

All photos in this blog by Betsy Seeton.

PHOTOS FROM MY HEALTHY HIVE

During a thorough investigation, the hive that always has girls filled with pollen coming and going daily, showed all the good signs of being healthy. It's definitely what bee lovers love to see.

Above are sealed brood cells where females will be born. In the
photo below, you're seeing drone cells, where the males will emerge.
Notice the difference in shape. Drone cells are quite distinguishable from
worker bee cells because of their round mounds. Drones take up more
space in the cells because they are larger than the worker bees.

In the photo below, the cells were glistening in the
bright sunlight. I'm guessing it's nectar or honey.
This was in one of the frames in the second box, known
as the "super" that sits on top of the bottom box which
is the brood chamber, also known as a "deep".  This
frame was full of the liquid stuff and considerably
heavier than any other frame.

Cute little bee butts.

I think these textured capped cells are brood cells of females. But it might be food? Hmm .. I still have much to learn.

In the  photos above and below are capped honey

 In the photo below, I think I'm seeing exposed larvae.

Below are more drone cells. I'm not sure why there are so many.

Below is capped honey again. Notice how capped
​honey is light in color and fairly smooth and flat.

Pictured above is a baby bee, just newly born! You can tell by the color and fuzziness. I always think baby bees are precious! Below is also a baby bee, but a little older.

MY SECOND HIVE:
DISCOVERING THE QUEEN WAS GONE

As I said, from the time I got one of my two hives, it was showing signs of weakness. Since it was my first time dealing with a hive that wasn't thriving, I wasn't sure what to do. First, I gave them some time to see if their new surroundings and time would make a difference. I watched some bees going into the hive with pollen. I saw a couple of frames full of bees. I thought maybe it was just early in the year and they'd just gotten off to a slow start. In hindsight, I waited longer than I should have to figure out what was going on. ​

Without someone to guide me by seeing what I'm seeing, I only have reading books, searching online and examining my photos to try to figure out what's going on. I can also submit photos to an online bee student group. I usually try to do my own research first.

 I turned to one of my bee books called Beekeeping Mentor in a Book, by Don Studinski. Don teaches hands on beekeeping to many, many beginning and mid level beekeepers over in the Denver, Colorado area. What I learned was how to inspect the hive to determine if my hive was queenless. Things that are red flags are seeing too many drones (male bees) and a widely scattered pattern of drone cells.  Drone cells are very easy to spot; they're bulky and roundish. Also, I wasn't seeing much pollen going into the hive and the hive was not growing. Both are bad signs.

Below is a healthy drone
pattern from my thriving hive.

The drone pattern below on the right is scattered, which can indicate the queen is sick, or isn't fertilized or the colony is queenless.

Below is a drone cell up close. Notice the texture. I tend to notice colors and textures instinctively because of photography and my love of that sort of thing, but it's also important as guardians of bees to learn to read the various colors and textures inside the hive to help identify the stages of growth and what constitutes a healthy or floundering hive.

Sealed drone cell by Betsy Seeton

   There are signs of a recently emerged drone in the photo below. You can see the rough edges around a couple of the cell openings. One drone looks to be inside and may not have fully emerged yet. What is most telling about this photo, and I saw it in other photos and wondered what was going on, is there are signs of many eggs in one cell. That's a sure indication that a worker bee is laying eggs.

I read a bee blog by David and Sheir burns that said, "Sometimes a newly mated queen or queen without room to lay may lay more than one egg in a cell, but a laying worker will fill up a cell with eggs." You'll see the eggs in a couple of the cells on the right toward the bottom. It's not very clear in the pic, but if you look closely, you can make out some squiggly white looking stuff inside on the bottom of the cell.

When a queen dies and isn't replaced by the colony (or by a human caretaker), a worker bee may begin to lay eggs. The problem with this, however, is that she can only lay drones (males) because her eggs are not fertilized. Drones have only one purpose in life and that's to mate with the queen. Otherwise, drones do nothing to advance the health or wealth of the hive. They take up space and utilize resources while giving nothing in return. The male who gets to fertilize the queen will die when the two disengage. It's a gruesome death; his sex organs are torn from his body in flight as the queen separates from him.  

Without a fertilized queen laying healthy baby girls, a colony will die. So, from my photos and analysis, my hive had a worker bee (maybe several) laying eggs, which meant there was no queen. I have since discovered it's not uncommon to lose a queen, which is one of many reasons to keep a close eye on the hives if you hope to have thriving colonies.

Photo by Betsy Seeton

In my weak hive, there were only two frames with bees and I never saw the queen. She could have been there, because it can be very hard to find her, but all other indications confirmed my suspicions. I thought the hive had also gotten smaller, which it will do since there are no girls to take over, and the older bees die off. My big question was what to do now. Time was of the essence.

I made the decision to combine the weak hive in with my good hive. I read that it's an option. I don't know if the bees will be accepted, but I have no access to another queen in a very short period of time so I did what I felt best. I took the box of the weak hive and set it on top of the other two boxes. I've checked often and there seem to be more bees in the weak hive than there were two days ago. I did notice about 30 dead bees around the hive after their first night. I don't know if they were killed in a territorial dispute or what. There were some bees who were left outside when I put the weak hive onto the good hive. Maybe they just didn't make it into the hive. I'll never know for sure. I find it distressing not fully understanding things.

photo by Betsy Seeton

In Don's book, I learned that there will always be some workers who lay eggs. "As long as there is a queen in the hive, the laying workers are kept under control by normal queen and brood pheromone." Pheromones serve as a critical means of communication between all members of a colony. Pheromones are "involved in almost every aspect of development and reproduction (including queen mating and swarming), foraging, defense, orientation, and in general the whole integration of colony activities, from foundation to decline." source

ONE LAST UPDATE FOR TODAY

When I checked on the added bees today, I found them highly disgruntled and many less bees on the two frames. I decided to move the frame with the most activity right into the second box -- the "super" and set the other frame out next to the box to see if the remaining bees will find their way into the hive. What they're working on isn't doing anything. Maybe I should have let them fend for themselves. I don't know whether they're so confused now, or weren't accepted. I just don't know what's going on. 

I didn't get stung once doing my inspections a few days ago. Today I got stung immediately on the face, near my eye. Never have been stung ON my face before. Most stings don't even hurt or swell. This one hurts! The girls were very mad right from the beginning and that hive, the weaker one, had always been very sweet and gentle. I have no idea what that means. I gave my antique bee smoker to my niece last year, so I fashioned up a makeshift one and used it a little after I got stung. The girls still seemed agitated. I got two bees stuck in my hair! That's a kind of buzz you don't want to hear. The bees are upset and frightened and their buzz is highly stressful to both them and me! I'll keep you all posted ...

ALL PHOTOS BY BETSY SEETON