In a message dated 5/20/00 9:30:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> I've tried looking for a queen in it,
>  but I'm never very good at finding them and so not finding her is still
>  pretty inconclusive.
>
>  So what's the advice?

   Sounds like you need to work on swarm management.  The swarm you lost, was
far better than the hive you have left, as is usual.  You probably have a
virgin queen, and it seems to take forever to get them mated. Introducing a
queen, when you already have one they raised, is an exercise in futility;
you'll be wasting your money. On the other hand, if a bird or dragonfly ate
the queen on her mating flight, you have even worse -- a hive full of old
bees, getting increasingly cranky and likely to kill a new queen.

    The solution: give them a frame with some eggs on it.  If they accept
that, there is a queen still in process.  If they immediately draw cells,
they've lost the queen that was in process.  At that point, you can let them
finish with the queen they raised, or give them a queen of your chosing.  If
you let them finish raising their own, they will definitely accept her, but
you still have the risk of mating.  If you give them a queen, also give them
a couple frames of sealed brood. Then you will have young bees to attend the
new queen, and acceptance will be much better. The bees will also be in
better disposition, with the age range of the population more in balance.

>  This brings up another question I've been kicking around: Do you let your
>  bees supercede naturally?

   How could I stop them?  They do it all the time...

>I figure workers from my high-production colonies
>  know the health and well being of their queen better than I do. If they
>  decide to raise another, shouldn't I trust them? If it's a good hive, and
>  they really seem to know what they're doing, shouldn't I let them? On
>  questionable hives I try to take a more direct role, but I'm curious what
>  other people do. If you let your bees manage themselves, do you find they
do
>  a good job of it?

    In the spring, queenless hives or ones with failing queens usually do
pretty good job of replacement.  In the dead of winter, there may not be
enough drones for mating, even here in SC (depends mostly on the weather).
And in summer heat a hive with a failing queen will often just die. I don't
know if that is a result of the heat, or of the constant spraying around
here.  One thing for sure, the wax worms find them in a hurry when the queen
is going out in hot weather. The worms can be working on one side of the
hive, while the bees are on the other.

   My approach is to let them do what they want with raising queens, but I
watch to make sure they do. If they don't raise a queen, or don't succeed in
getting her mated, frames of brood with eggs are the solution. Sometimes when
you are looking for brood, the hive that hangs out and is really heavy, may
already have cells, so you gain some time.

   Yesteday I found three drone layers, and one that had swarmed but no eggs
yet. All were fixed with a frame with queen cells on it from a hive that was
ready to swarm.

    Some beekeepers will scream bloody murder about this. They say this is
propagating swarminess.  I will be deaf to their cries, as I've seen so many
weak hives in the past 15 years, that the ones that are strong enough to
swarm are the ones I want!


Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com