BEE-L Archives

Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

BEE-L@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Jeff Dugan <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 29 Aug 1998 19:43:55 -0700
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (41 lines)
I had my one and only hive open today down to the bottom hive body,
and heard a sound coming from down within the lower hive body.  It seemed
to emanate from the lower portion of one of the center frames.  It
sounded just like a sound I remember from an old Atari-era video game,
and "beeped" 6 to 10 times at a frequency of about 2 per second, then
quit.  This repeated about 1-2 minutes later.  Not terribly loud, but
clearly audible over the hum of the bees.  A bit like the sound of a
(U.S.) garbage truck backing up, but not as high-pitched, nor as loud,
and with more of a buzz to the sound.
 
     I remember reading that a newly-emerged queen will start "piping" to
see if there's a response from another newly-emerged or soon-to-emerge
queen, so she can locate and kill the competition.  Is this what I heard
in my hive today?
 
     If so, does this mean my hive has undergone or is undergoing
supersedure?  I did not see queen cells on the frames I inspected in
either hive body, but I only looked at about half of them (didn't think
about searching all frames for Q cells until all was closed back up).  I
was surprised how little brood I saw on the frames I did inspect - spotty
pattern filling about 1/3 to 1/2 of the inner frames in the top hive
body, almost no brood in the bottom hive body.  I also didn't think
to look for eggs until too late.  There was also less honey than I
expected to see.
 
     If not supersedure, could this be a sign of imminent swarming?  The
hive has been a bit crowded since I extracted in July, and even with a
new super of undrawn foundation on, now that goldenrod is starting to
bloom, the entire front of the lower hive body is usually covered with
bees when the foragers are home.
 
     As I mentioned, goldenrod is just starting here in northeast
Tennessee, at about 2000 ft. elevation.  If this is a supersedure, does
this mean I will miss most or all of the fall honey crop?  What about
hive strength for the winter?  If hive survival is at risk, should I
feed syrup to the large population of bees alive now, to build up witner
stores?  If the hive survives the winter, would it mean I would not
necessarily need to re-queen next fall (assuming 2nd-year requeening)?
 
     Thanks in advance from a 1st year beekeeper-wannabe.

ATOM RSS1 RSS2