Hello Neon,

Nosema exhibits symptoms in workers first. They crawl on the ground in front
of entrances, sometimes climbing and falling off blades of grass. "K" wing
is a dead giveaway. This is where the front and hind wings (both sides or
either) get unhooked. Pull out the last segment of the abdomen including the
sting. If the stomach and intestines are swollen and cloudy then the bee has
nosema.

Sounds like your queen has a damaged abdomen. More likely, if her abdomen is
very distended and tender, she has septicemia. Requeening is the only
solution I have found.

Also, if one has raised enough queens, some cell starters / cell builders
will be prone to produce queens that are very large but have difficulty
laying eggs. I usually put them out of cell building / finishing and into
honey production.

Lastly, I have found that island born queens raised from good foreign stock
are the best. I have imported thousands of first generation (F1)queens from
all over the world, except Africa and South America, and only 30 to 40% go
into honey production. A measly 1% to 3% are good enough to breed second
generation (F2) queens from.

Some bee breeders produce very good breeder queens (F0), but they are
expensive and tricky to import.

Lastly, I hope you are not using second hand equipment.

Joel F. Magsaysay
ILOG MARIA HONEYBEE FARMS
Cavite Highlands, Philippines
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