Volume 2 -------------------- January 18, 2011 --------------------Number 7
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What To Do With Bees Coming Out Of Winter: Part V
Inspect Your Queen
by David Burns, EAS certified Master Beekeeper
It's important for beekeepers to be well prepared to properly manage hives that have survived the winter. In our last installment we looked
into a more detailed look at the Demaree swarm prevention method. Use this acronym to help you remember how to prepare:
Stimulate For Rapid Foraging Force
Prevent Swarms
Rotate Hive Bodies
Inspect The Productivity Of The Queen
New Queen
Give 1:1 Sugar Water & Pollen Patties
Beekeepers celebrate when they see that their hive survived the winter. However, to make this overwintered colony as productive and healthy as
possible, the queen needs to be evaluated early in the season. On the first nice, warm day, it is important to open up the hive and make an inspection
to determine the welfare of the queen. In the worst case scenario the queen died in late fall or winter and now there is no new brood and no new
bees. The hive will become smaller and smaller and eventually perish. Or perhaps the queen is failing, unable to lay fertile eggs and has become a
drone layer. Now your hive will become over populated with drones, and will soon perish.
Let me walk you through an inspection. First, choose a warm sunny day when the temperature is no less than 67 (F). Smoke the hive and beginning
inspecting frames. Depending on when you do your inspection, you'll want to see a fair amount of sealed worker brood and uncapped brood such as
eggs and larvae. It is not essential that you find the queen as long as you see eggs. Seeing eggs mean that you have a queen. In fact, if you spot your
queen but fail to look for eggs, you have not gained useful information about the state of your queen. You must evaluate her ability to lay.
Several factors might influence what you see. First, if you have a Carniolan queen, she is less likely to lay early in the spring. She will, however, start
laying when the nectar flow starts. All queens will lay more once the nectar flow increases. But you should expect to see some brood. How early you
inspect your hive may change the results as well. The queen begins to lay more as there is more daylight and the days become longer.
Usually here in Illinois there is a day or two in February warm enough to allow me to inspect my hives. If I spot my queen, but she is not laying yet, I do
not become concerned just yet. I will make a note in my log to check on her in two weeks. Or I may feed the hive 1:1 sugar water to see if this will
stimulate her to start laying. It's not a bad idea to start feeding 1:1 sugar water to an overwintered colony to stimulate early laying.
What do you do if you discover you are queenless or in need of a new queen. It is more difficult to resolve this problem early in the spring. Queen
producers often cannot provide queens this early or they already have long waiting lists. Every spring we receive calls from desperate beekeepers who
have discovered that their hive survived winter but their queen did not. There is little we can do except to have them feed their hive and keep it going until
we can ship out a queen. However, if you discover in May that your queen is not laying an impressive brood pattern, then you should have no trouble buying
a new queen. Replace her as soon as possible.
If you can make a February inspection and find your queen is gone, one option is to purchase a new package. Even though your package will not arrive
until April, your new bees and queen will be a huge boost to the failing overwintered queenless hive. But, remember that most package providers are sold out
in March, so you'll have to hope for a warm day in February to order a replacement package.
...in our next article When To Add A New Queen
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IN THE NEWS....
An Encouraging Article On How To Help The Plight Of The Honey Bee...Read more
An update On Colony Collapse Disorder...Read more
California Pollination, Thieves & Shortages...Read more
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Package Bees & Nucs For Sale Now From Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
Give us a call at: 217-427-2678 to get yours while they last!
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Look At Our Next Beekeeping Classes:
February 4th 6pm - 8pm How To Make Cream Honey CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
March 4th (Friday night 6-8pm Pest & Diseases: Diagnosis & Prevention CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
March 19th (Saturday) Basic Beekeeping 9am - 3pm CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
May 14th (Saturday) QUEEN REARING COURSE 9am - 3pm CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
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BEE SMART is free and comes right to your email inbox. We'll be relying on you
telling your friends about BEE SMART and passing it along to others.
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