Bad Queen

[mackles]

I was just checking my hives yesterday and noticed that one of my queens has been displaing characteristics of an older queen. She Doesnt lay very many eggs, and happens to not lay in every cell. The odd thing is she is a young queen, no older then a month. Is this also a trait of new queens, or could she be sick? I would normaly replace her, but with the hurricane i can't find a single supplier for queens. Thanks for your help.

[Michael Bush]

As long as there is plenty of worker brood, I wouldn't worry too much right now. She may even cut back for fall and lay less, I don't know how that works in California, but here it would not surprise me to see that this time of year, although they are still laying strong right now, here.

[Tim Vaughan]

It works the same in California. She sounds like she's just cutting down on mouths to feed over the winter.