Spring management questions

[Robert Hicks]

Given:
A queenright bee package is delivered and installed on April 15.
2000 eggs are laid per diem
Starting 21 days after 4/15, 2000 workers are hatched - x where x is unsuccessful larva.
After a certain period y worker bees die off from work.

If x and y are 0 then 60,000 new bees should be online 10 days after memorial day.

What are acceptable x and y?

[BjornBee]

I wish all my queens layed 2000 eggs per day. I wish my installed queens layed from day one. And while the package is dwindling in numbers of bees, they usually have a hard time maximizing brood rearing in April in the north. They will only rear what they can keep warm at night. Many other variables(comb versus foundation) These and other variables make that a hard one to work out.

This sound like its a job for the "scale" crew to work on.... ;)

[Michael Bush]

My bees never could do math. smile.gif I put pollen patties on them at Christmas this year, though, and they are booming right now. Some always do better than others. None of them do exactly what you planned.

[Robert Hicks]

Without actually counting the bees, what's the range of population where the colony goes from brood production and into honey production?

Or is it a time thing? Will colonies ignore dandelion pollon and nectar if their numbers are too low?

There should be an answerable question in there somewhere.

[Michael Bush]

>Without actually counting the bees, what's the range of population where the colony goes from brood production and into honey production?

>Or is it a time thing? Will colonies ignore dandelion pollon and nectar if their numbers are too low?

IMO it's a bit of both and not all one or the other. Some of it is the blooms and some of it is the population.

[Joel]

It really is much more complicated than the simple math due to a variety of environmetal factors. Your numbers will be closer to 1500 per diem and that will be greately reduced by several variables. In the early season a queen can not outlay the area the cluster can cover and protect in varying temperatures. This often is a greatly limiting factor. Most non-2 queen units peak at around 25,000 - 30,000 workers. Your packages will depopulate for 21 days and then start to repopulate based on how large the brood nest is, how much food is available and how extreme the temperature changesare. Also how much comb has to be drawn, hours of daylight, type of location where the hives are kept, queen traits/genetics. A strong package with a good queen and a majority of young bees on drawn comb may produce a crop after 6 to 8 weeks in ideal weather and bloom conditions. The same package on foundation with any thing less than ideal conditions may struggle to get built up and have enough stores and bees to survive the 1st. winter in your region. Add a little pressure from mites, chalbrood or wax moths and the formula changes again. An experiance beekeeper can do many things to move the process ahead. Bees are about science and math, they are also about nature and skill and some factors we have yet to explain.

[Dave W]

Joel . . .

>some factors we have yet to explain

Please explain "Most non-2 queen units peak at around 25,000 - 30,000 workers".

[Aspera]

Check out Winston's "Biology of Honey Bees". It gives some fairly precise estimates of early season build up rates. There is a temperate climate graph that seems to indicate that temperate colonies are down to a few thousand bees in March, but are adding about 500 bees (net gain) per day. Somewhere in May (depending on where you live) the population hits 20,000 bees (if they don't swarm in May or dwindle in March). Drone rearing consistantly begins almost a month before queen rearing.