Honeybees know when to increase and decrease the amount of brood in the hive. Many factors contribute to this behavior; some natural, some man-made. The art of beekeeping often revolves around identifying and properly diagnosing problems. This past week, I was also faced with an interesting situation: a brood free colony.
Now, as a beginner, it is sometimes difficult for me to understand what is really happening with the bees I tend after. Often times, during an inspection , I will see something and just say, "hmmm, that's interesting" without giving much of a second thought. Well, as I noticed that one of the colonies was free of brood, I mean completely barren of any signs of brood, I started thinking, "hmmm, this isnt so good" and I began to worry. A colony without brood cant survive very long. After all, the bees need to have a steady flow of new bees to keep up with the attrition. So now I was faced with a situation I hadn't observed before and I need to figure out what to do.
Before I go any further, I want to talk a little bit about brood behavior. The colony has the highest brood production in late spring early summer, with production tapering off shortly after the last significant honey flow of the season. This is logical, in that in order for the colony to collect enough pollen and nectar for the winter season a large number of field bees are needed at the beginning of the season. This is just nature's way of ensuring the colony survives. As the economics of nature determine that the supply of nutrition sources decreases, so does the number of workers who would normally collect the food. That is what I mean by the number of bees tapering off. It is normally a slow process. However, there are circumstances that cause the hive to stop brood production all together.
If the bees are faced with the stress of 1) not finding enough nectar (i.e. a honey dearth) 2) being treated against varroa mites with formic acid or 3) cold weather spells in the midst of summer, then they may decide to just take a break until conditions improve. All three of these circumstances occurred recently with my bees, but only one colony reacted in such a drastic manner. However, sometimes, something else can happen that changes everything.
Upon taking a closer look at the colony in question, I noticed something in addition to the lack of brood. On the bottom of one of the frames in the middle of the brood nest, I noticed what looked like the remnants of queen cells. The bees appeared to be dismantling and reverting the cells to normal cells on the frame. This, for me, is a possible indicator that the bees replaced their queen without me even noticing it. I now took the extra time to try and find the queen. As far as I could tell, the bees probably did have a queen as the colony was very calm and quiet. Normally a queen-less colony will buzz loudly as a whole and their movements are more erratic, but since I had observed neither of these indicators, I was certain the queen was present.
After about twenty minutes of intensive searching, I finally laid my eyes on the queen. Phew! At least I know the colony has a queen, but until I see brood, I won't be satisfied. I gave each colony some syrup, and hopefully, if the queen has had her mating flight, she will begin laying eggs again soon. If she hasn't had her mating flight, it may still take a few weeks before anything happens. If that is the case, I may have to requeen the colony with a laying queen, but by then, it may be too late.
Now, as a beginner, it is sometimes difficult for me to understand what is really happening with the bees I tend after. Often times, during an inspection , I will see something and just say, "hmmm, that's interesting" without giving much of a second thought. Well, as I noticed that one of the colonies was free of brood, I mean completely barren of any signs of brood, I started thinking, "hmmm, this isnt so good" and I began to worry. A colony without brood cant survive very long. After all, the bees need to have a steady flow of new bees to keep up with the attrition. So now I was faced with a situation I hadn't observed before and I need to figure out what to do.
Before I go any further, I want to talk a little bit about brood behavior. The colony has the highest brood production in late spring early summer, with production tapering off shortly after the last significant honey flow of the season. This is logical, in that in order for the colony to collect enough pollen and nectar for the winter season a large number of field bees are needed at the beginning of the season. This is just nature's way of ensuring the colony survives. As the economics of nature determine that the supply of nutrition sources decreases, so does the number of workers who would normally collect the food. That is what I mean by the number of bees tapering off. It is normally a slow process. However, there are circumstances that cause the hive to stop brood production all together.
If the bees are faced with the stress of 1) not finding enough nectar (i.e. a honey dearth) 2) being treated against varroa mites with formic acid or 3) cold weather spells in the midst of summer, then they may decide to just take a break until conditions improve. All three of these circumstances occurred recently with my bees, but only one colony reacted in such a drastic manner. However, sometimes, something else can happen that changes everything.
Upon taking a closer look at the colony in question, I noticed something in addition to the lack of brood. On the bottom of one of the frames in the middle of the brood nest, I noticed what looked like the remnants of queen cells. The bees appeared to be dismantling and reverting the cells to normal cells on the frame. This, for me, is a possible indicator that the bees replaced their queen without me even noticing it. I now took the extra time to try and find the queen. As far as I could tell, the bees probably did have a queen as the colony was very calm and quiet. Normally a queen-less colony will buzz loudly as a whole and their movements are more erratic, but since I had observed neither of these indicators, I was certain the queen was present.
After about twenty minutes of intensive searching, I finally laid my eyes on the queen. Phew! At least I know the colony has a queen, but until I see brood, I won't be satisfied. I gave each colony some syrup, and hopefully, if the queen has had her mating flight, she will begin laying eggs again soon. If she hasn't had her mating flight, it may still take a few weeks before anything happens. If that is the case, I may have to requeen the colony with a laying queen, but by then, it may be too late.
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