Follow Me

Close

After many inspections of both my hives, I have determined that the Queen Annie hive has lost their Queen. The hive wasn’t doing well because the queen was not laying any eggs. I can’t find any eggs or larvae. But I do see honey. The bees will continue to bring pollen and nectar to the hive but without a queen the hive is doomed. But, there is hope. I found what looks like queen cells at the bottom of the hive. IF a queen hatches, mates and starts laying, there is hope. A little more difficult learning experience than I planned but it is a learning experience!

image

Queen cells in the Queen Annie Hive

image

Close up of a queen cell

image

More queen cells

  • August 28, 2016

I have a bunch of questions for Queen Annie….like, where are you? Remember, I placed a super on her two pretty good sized brood boxes. Just trying to give her some room and she ignores me! Once again, there was an empty bottle of sugar water. No eggs or honey in the new super.  That made me think, maybe she left me! I started looking for signs like queen cells. Somebody told me if a hive has a weak or dead queen, they would start making queen cells. These cells are bigger and usually at the bottom. Well, I see this:

IMG_6880queen

I’m just a Freshman when it comes to Beekeeping but my first guess is this is a queen exiting a queen cell. If anyone knows this for sure, let me know. In the meantime, Queen Latifa just keeps on doing her thing! (See latest video under the Video tab)

  • August 1, 2016