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Anyone else been having trouble with queens? I’ve got one colony that must have superceded at least three times already this summer, and is currently queenless again! The bees have been working on raising yet another new queen, but here it is July already… if this new one isn’t laying well by the end of the week, the colony is going to have to be combined with another. Frustrating! And I can’t figure out why the queens keep disappearing - no obvious signs of trouble in that hive, and there are plenty of bees: it’s practically boiling over with field bees bringing in honey. Ideas, anyone?
I have no idea if this is the right place to ask this question, but I figured that professional beekeepers would know the answer:
I have a hive of bees under my deck, which is entirely enclosed with lattice. At best, a mouse might be able to make its way underneath. I could go under the deck and tackle them with a bit of Raid and kill the hive. But that would be a lot of work, they’re not bothering me, and if I understand things, the bee population is under some sort of stress. So I’m inclined to leave them alone–and here’s my question: if I leave them be (pardon the pun), is there any likelihood that doing so will come back to haunt me? I have visions of an enormous hive developing underneath the BBQ and some inconsequential event setting them off while we’re having friends over for steak and potato salad.
Any comments?
Cheers
Russell
Hi Russel
Are you sure it is bees under the deck ? More often than not, bees will build in a contained area, not in the open. Yellowjackets on the other hand will build in a hanging fashion, ie under a deck. You should get a positive identification and then deal with them.
One quick point for homeowners with a buzzing pest problem: if the insects around your house are building a big grey paper-y nest, you can be 100% sure that those are not honey bees.
So I goes to my shop to get my bee gear to see if the new queen is laying, go into the shop, come out of the shop, shut the door and WHAM - a hornet nails me on the neck. Go figger as they say. Never took a sting all summer from the bees and gotta take it from a yellowjacket. The upside is - as a beekeeper I know the difference.
What to do with those crappy looking frames of mil-dewed pollen ?
A hard, fine spray from a garden hose does the trick. Some of the “crappy” pollen is harder to get out but persevere, it will flush out after a while.
That sounds like the Voice of Experience talking, Sterling… good advice. And I suppose, if the spray of water is strong enough to break the wax, you’re probably looking at some old brittle comb that’s over-due to be replaced anyway!
Do beekeepers have extrasensory perception ? After I read my entry I said to myself, I should have mentioned the breakage of wax. Yes, the wax is too old and brittle OR the water stream is too strong. Thanks Rebecca
Sterling
If beekeepers did have ESP, we’d always know ahead of time when the bees were going to swarm. Now, that would be useful! :)
Hi there. I saw your comment about swarming and want to know if any of you would like to have the swarm that built in my pear tree. I have a beautiful comb and a great tail of bees…. it has been there since june some time. It seems like such a shame to kill them.
Where are you located, Leza?
This is very cool, actually - it is rare, in the New Brunswick climate, to find honeybees building comb in a tree and living in the wild like that!
Hi there, I am just about 20 minutes outside of Fredericton. Are you familiar? We are hoping to get them moved somehow before they move again for the winter.
It is very cool I have never seen it either.
Leza, you will have to be more specific about your location. There are beekeepers all around you. I live 45 minutes east of Fredericton.
Tell us where you live and I am sure you will have one of us contact you to help you in no time.
And Leza, if you’d rather not give out your specific location on the internet — totally understandable — you can just email me directly (there’s a contact form here you can use, if you want) and I can put you and Sterling in touch with each other.
Hi there, sorry about that… I live in
Burton, about 5 miles below the bridge toward Gagetown. I am glad to hear back.
Leza
Hi Leza Give the bee store a call at 357-5444. They are in Maugerville. If no luck there give me a call at 339-6786 after 6P.M.
Sterling
Hi Sterling:
I did just that and the bees were picked up friday… they didn’t get all the hive and the bees are building again is that the way it usually works? Thank you for your help.
Uh-oh Leza, sounds like whoever picked up your swarm did not get the queen, unless there are a lot of bees that got left behind and they are clustering around the queen pheremone left behind by her highness. Keep an eye on them for a week and if they are still there, call the bee store again. I just got back from cutting a huge swarm out of an apple tree. It’s hard to figure the bees swarming this time of year. I took three splits off of that hive earlier in the season for another beek.