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Sun, 21 May 2000 18:24:57 -0400 |
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I am a novice beekeeper with 2 hives started from 2 5lb shipments of Italian
package bees from York. Each package ate a quart of 1:1 syrup the evening
of delivery. Hiving was unremarkable; each hive has taken 1 pint of 1:1
sugar syrup each day since.
Week 1 inspection showed queens released, both hives with drawn comb in 6.5-
7 of the 10 frames. This seemed fast, but I did buy 5 lb. (Between
postal rates and package prices, the difference between 3 and 5 lb seemed
small). I saw honey and pollen in both hives, no brood. I withdrew only 2
frames; frame 3 (next to where I had placed the queen cage) and frame 6. I
did not see the queens.
Peeked in on day 10 and saw bees drawing comb on frame 9 of first hive. I
did not disturb any frames, just added a 2nd deep hive body to both hives.
Week 3 inspection (today) shows first hive with a good pattern of capped and
open brood in frames 2 and 3. Plenty of burr comb and drone cells, some
very little work on upper hive body, in fact not much drawn comb on frames
9-10 of lower body. Uncapped pollen and honey in upper parts of frames, with
bees gorging. I only withdrew frames 2 and 3 for inspection, did not see
queen. I did no cutting of comb except what was necessary to separate those
2 frames for inspection.
The second hive has even more burr comb and drone cells, absolutely no work
on upper hive body and 8 frames drawn below. This hive was slightly more
irritated but both have seemed quite gentle since delivery. I saw what
looked like queen cells in this hive on the two frames I inspected. I saw
good brood but no queen.
Should I worry about these "queen cells?" As a novice, I can't claim to be
certain that they were queen cells, but they certainly resembled the
pictures in Dadant's "First Lessons in Bee Keeping." Dadant mentions that
supercedure is sometimes a problem in week 3 with package bees. My research
before buying indicated that York provides quality, well-bred queens and I
would hate to lose one so quickly.
Reading the archives has been very educational but I saw nothing quite like
this question. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Steve Fairfax
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