View Full Version : No eggs yet
The weather has turned crook here and the drones are not flying. 33 days have passed and still no eggs. The bad weather should be over by next week and we will be back to 25 C. Will the queens fly when the weather picks up or have they missed the boat? and become destined to be drone layers?.
How long do drones live?
Alex King (K142)
peggjam
04-06-2006, 06:02 PM
If they haven't mated by 21 days, their're pretty much gonna be drone layers. Arn't you headed into winter? Another way to tell if your queens are mated is to check for drones (assuming of course that you are indeed headed into winter). If they have kicked out the drones, chances are you have a mated queen, if they haven't, your queen is proably not mated. Drones live as long as they are useful to the hive, once they arn't useful, well.....you know.
Yes we are having a cold snap, but if I have 21 days from queen hatching then I may be ok as good weather is forcast next week.
Some drones have been ripped from their cells from one of my hives but I have drones all year round here because I'm near the sea. Its just that the drones in the hives have stayed inside the hive this week so I assumed if the drones are inside the queens stay inside too.
Fingers crossed smile.gif
Alex King (K142)
36 days since eggs taken to make queens, found one queen dead on the bottom board. No eggs in 2 others, three others with virgin queens. The weather was 25 C today fingers still crossed.
Alex King(K142)
leafcutter
04-15-2006, 08:47 AM
Tors, what's the update? Its been 4 days since you had a good weather day.....
I'm waiting on 2 hives split 20 days ago with multiple swarm cells each, I expect Queens emerged 15-17 days ago.
Had one day of mating weather (61 degrees) 9 days ago, and another day 2 days ago (65 degrees), but otherwise temps in 50's and typically raining/overcast. Still no eggs.
Day 22, 23, and 24 are supposed to be 62-65 and sunny also. If no eggs by day 27 will intoduce new queen.
41 days ....eggs in one hive.
Alex King (K142)
divebee
04-15-2006, 09:19 PM
I was thinking 32 days from egg at the latest, you should have a Queen Laying eggs.
Michael Bush
04-15-2006, 09:44 PM
I always figure 28 days.
I think its because the weather has turned cooler, the drones stopped flying so much. Its all relative, my son came a month ago from his home in Helsinki Finland, it was about 2 C when he left!!!, it was about 18 C here, I was cold he was hot!!!. Anyway one queen died (I found it on the floor,I shall keep waiting for the rest.
leafcutter
04-16-2006, 04:09 PM
I'd be really interested to know if those eggs grow into drones, as the earlier posts would indicate is likely at 25 days post new queen emergence. (41-16=25)
It seems odd to find this concrete window of the first 10-14 days for queen mating to occur. ?
Is this true as well as 'banked' virgins? If not, why not?
MichaelW
04-17-2006, 09:09 AM
I have a mating nuc that has no eggs that should by now. I couldn't find the virgin in this small 4 frame hive, but I did find two capped queen cells and a very few capped cells. Could these bee queen cells where the queen never emerged? There are other torn down cells and there was a grafted cell that looked like a queen emerged from at the proper time, when I checked.
Also, how well do mating nucs that lost their virgin queen take caged, mated queens? Should it be OK as long as they have not been queenless long enough for the workers to lay eggs.
Michael Bush
04-17-2006, 10:21 AM
>It seems odd to find this concrete window of the first 10-14 days for queen mating to occur. ?
Actually it CAN take 21, but almost never does. After that she's a drone layer.
>Is this true as well as 'banked' virgins? If not, why not?
Yes.
>I have a mating nuc that has no eggs that should by now.
How many days since emergence?
> I couldn't find the virgin in this small 4 frame hive, but I did find two capped queen cells and a very few capped cells. Could these bee queen cells where the queen never emerged?
Did you put a queen cell in? Did they have fresh larvae at the time you put the queen cell in?
> There are other torn down cells and there was a grafted cell that looked like a queen emerged from at the proper time, when I checked.
She may not have returned. If you set up the mating nuc with a frame of brood a day or so before you put in the queen cell, it's possible they started some queen cells as well and she didn't return from mating.
>Also, how well do mating nucs that lost their virgin queen take caged, mated queens?
That depends on how long they've been queenless. From a day to a couple of weeks they do well. If they start having laying workers they do terrible.
> Should it be OK as long as they have not been queenless long enough for the workers to lay eggs.
Exactly.
MichaelW
04-17-2006, 11:23 AM
21 days had passed from the day I grafted the cell I put in there. I also removed the queen from the cell builder on that day. This mating nuc was made up from the cell builder. It had 2 frames that had queen cells on it when I pulled them out for the mating nuc. It could of had eggs in it 21 days ago, since I pulled out the queen that day. Then, I also put the one grafted cell in, with a cell protector.
Looking at the timeline, I can't see why there would be queen cells in there, unless a queen never emerged and the bees didn't tear them down. I think its extremely unlikely I somehow didn't pull the queen from the cell builder and then somehow put her in the mating nuc, then lost her without seeing eggs anytime in between. I can't think of any other reasons that queen cells could be present givin the timeline, and where the mating nuc came from.
puzzled
Michael Bush
04-17-2006, 01:27 PM
Sometimes they tear them down. Sometimes they don't. The queen cell were on the frame when you pulled it, but how many days along? It's quite possible you lost the queen you put in. She probaly flew off to mate and met a windshield or a dragonfly or a swallow. The others may be younger cells. If you assume they were capped just before the transfer to the mating nuc, they should have emerged seven or eight days later.
leafcutter
04-18-2006, 10:12 PM
It worked.
Had just one day as high as 61 degrees 6 days after queen cells began to open and a second day of 65 degrees 13 days after emerging; otherwise it was cold and rainy the whole time.
Today, had rows of day old eggs in 1 of 2 hives.
We'll see how good the queen winds up being, but at least this confirms they can mate in cool weather.
For the hive with no eggs (or queen I could see), I shook 2 frames of bees from it (carefully inspected to not accidentally include a virgin queen) into a nuc; shook 2 more frames from another hive into the same nuc; sprayed them with sugar water, waited an hour, then placed in a purchased queen/cage without attendants.
Once accepted/in a week, if the eggless hive is still eggless, I will combine with the newly created nuc.
Did I do right?
MichaelW
04-20-2006, 07:27 AM
Now my first mating nuc has eggs too! Hopefully they are from a queen. There were some haphazard eggs. One was plopped down right in a cell filled with pollen. The most eggs I saw in one cell was 2 so I'm hoping its not laying workers. Some eggs were laid correctly and some were laying on the sides or had multiples.
Michael Bush
04-20-2006, 01:41 PM
>Some eggs were laid correctly and some were laying on the sides or had multiples.
I wouldn't panic, but I would look for a queen.
MichaelW
04-24-2006, 08:23 AM
She's a queen!
Also,
Its interesting that mating nucs I set up a week later than this first mating nuc had larvae and some even had capped brood, while the first queen was just getting her egg laying down correctly. The variety of development times fit within the calander, I am just suprised of the differences in time to get eggs.
Michael Bush
04-24-2006, 06:29 PM
I would not expect eggs before 24 days after you graft. In other words 28 days from when the egg was layed.
2 more queens laying!!!, @ about 38 days, must just be because of the weather.
Alex King (K142)
Checked to see if the brood is worker or drone............................................. ..........................WORKER!!!!!!
happy happy joy joy!!!
Alex King (K142)