Episode-185- Check For Supersedure In Honey Bee Colony B

In this follow up video spread out between May 5 and 12, 2013 I confirm the presence of supersedure cells. There was no evidence of eggs, again, ugh! The bees were buzzing louder than usual but I wasn’t using smoke and they may have been upset about about the lack of brood to care for. This was quite disconcerting at the time but not too surprising. I knew the queen in this hive was not laying well and it seems the bees knew that as well.

Luckily I was wise enough to seek some counsel prior to making a decision about what to do next. I spoke with a friend at work and confirmed her convictions with some posts at BeeSource.com which was to leave them alone. It will take some time for a new queen to be raised, get her bearings, go on a mating flight, make it back and then begin laying. I could be looking at a month before I see evidence of a successful supersedure.

The first and second years of beekeeping were easy for me but this third year is quite taxing. However, as I keep at it I must be more conscious of my desires to manage the bees. I should just be caring for them and not let my actions interfere with their instincts. I’ll leave the bees alone and only provide feed as necessary which at this time of year it’s not. Instead I’ll observe from afar and check again a couple of more weeks. Maybe the middle of June. If by then I see no evidence of a queen I will have to contemplate purchasing one.

There’s more troubles ahead with colony C so stay tuned for the mess I made with that one and the lessons learned. Please comment with any advice that would be appropriate or just comments like “Been there, done that, it will be okay”. That’s it for today now go and do no harm to the nature in your yard.

Resources

Episode-184- Track Bee Troubles In Honey Bee Hive B – Supersedure

Song of the Day – The Mad Hatters – I’ll Come Running – Video

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