Stung in the face and Queenless

[SBBeeman]

Hi Folks:
This is my first year as a beekeeper and I earlier I ran into a serious Varroa mite infestation with my Italians. The problem went on longer than it should have because I was unfamilier with the telltale signs (shredded wings). I used Apistan strips to deal with the mites and it has been 4-5 weeks. Since I began the Apistan strips, the colony has been shrinking in size and now there is no sign of a queen and hasn't been for about two weeks. I was waiting since there was capped brood - although the brood pattern was poor. I had hoped once the mite problem was over, the queen might begin laying well again. I inspected again yesterday and saw only 1 egg. Lots of honey and some pollen...no queen cells.
I am in Santa Barbara, Calif and the days are 65-70 degf with the nights at around 40 degf. Is it sensible to get a new queen and if so can you suggest a source?
I did get stung in the face on Saturday...bad luck bee flew right into my eye and I reacted by trying to swipe her out :doh:. The result was a stinger 1/16" below my lower lid and a very swollen face (man, am I even uglier!).

Any advice on the requeening issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Much,
- Jeff -

[SwedeBee1970]

Yes. It's a new queen or possible doom to the colony. The Apistan strips don't work very well since the mites have adapted to it over the years. The mites are attacking due to the poor hive condition, likely. It may indeed be too late for another queen. Others will answer that better than I can. There are certain essential oils in HBH (Honey Bee Healthy) that will aid the bees with mites and not have any side effects. Don't have any other suggestions accept getting Russian honey bees which are mite resistant in the first place.

Sorry to hear that you got stung. I myself have gotten stung right on my adams apple when I first got them. My adams apple swelled up and itched like crazy for days. Something that leaves an ever lasting impression.

[doc25]

Make sure there is no Queen. Look for her and kill her asap. If there are still eggs you might get a queen.

I made a split earlier this year and couldn't find a cell, but they did make a queen.

[Hambone]

I inspected again yesterday and saw only 1 egg. Lots of honey and some pollen...no queen cells.

You may inspected again. If you saw an egg you have a queen. Unless you have laying workers, but there would be multiple eggs per cell. Chances are she is slowing down for winter. My temps are the same as yours and my queens have slowed way down and the colony populations have dropped. Normal.


serious Varroa mite infestation

Were you doing mite drops on a sticky board? How bad was your mite problem?

[Fuzzy]

Where you live, I would go ahead and let it die. Then freeze the frames until mid Feb and set them back out with some lemon grass oil on top of a couple of frames. You will likely attract one or more swarms in early March.

Good hunting... Fuzzy

[SBBeeman]

Hi All:
Foremost, I want to thank you all for helping here...I have been keeping bees for about six months and I am still just understanding some of the simple behaviors.
In my search for a queen I called Lucas Apiaries, who sources queens and is only about 40 miles south from me. It really isn't a great time of year to try and get a queen, but the most important clue that there may still be a queen is that there are no laying workers - even after weeks (good call Hambone!).
He suggested that I take one of the empty frames and backfill it with a 2:1 sugar syrup. Doing this may encourage the queen to begin laying. I would have naturally used my top-feeder for this, but he pointed out that it really is too cold for them to get the syrup from the top feeder; placing the syrup near the brood will allow them easy access.
The backfilling of the empty frame goes like this (I'm writing this so anyone who knows as little as me can use this trick)....get a one quart mason jar and fill it with 2:1. Poke 5 (or so) nail holes in the top lid. Pull an empty frame and hold the frame at 30-45 degrees. Shake the mason jar (like a salt shaker) to fill both sides of the frame. Reinstall the frame (I chose frame 7 out of 10), close up the hive and reinspect in about 5 days.
If I got anything wrong here, please feel free to correct me.
On Friday or Saturday, I'll have another look..I feel optimistic!

Thanks again to Ernie and all the rest of you. I do really appreciate it.

- Jeff -

[SwedeBee1970]

How do you keep the 2:1 mixture on the frames without capping them ? The syrup will drain and make a mess.

If this is trying to simulate a honey frame, then I would suggest using dry sugar and partial fill the comb with it or use a much thicker concoction, say 5:1 . If we fill one side of the comb with dry sugar and spray mist some water on the same side, wait a few minutes until solidified (theoretically capped), then do the same with the other side. Voila ! Instant honey frame replacement. The bees could adequately contain, convert, & store the cells like a honey frame, theoretically speaking.

[Hambone]

How do you keep the 2:1 mixture on the frames without capping them ? The syrup will drain and make a mess.

Bees build their comb at about a 13 degree (if I remember correctly) upward angle to prevent that from happening.

[SwedeBee1970]

13 degrees is not much. We're talking about 13 degrees off of a horizontal position, right ? Can't imagine syrup staying in place at that angle. Fill a cup with water and angle it at 13 degrees. How much water is left over ? An 8oz glass would have around 2-3oz leftover.

[JonEdangerousli]

Google "surface tension".

[SBBeeman]

Hambone:
You had asked how bad my mite population was...to be honest, I didn't perform a count of any quantitative kind. I witnessed shredded wings for several weeks before I fgured out (through this forum) my problem was obviously Varroa mites. The mite population was bad enough that I could find 2-3 bees with shredded wings crawling about on the ground in front of the hive at any time. This was compounded by the fact that I could look carefully at these (and other) bees and see actually see mites on their bodies. I instantly ordered the Apistan strips and appiled. There are now thousands of dead mites on the bottom (solid) board and are also being moved out of the hive by workers.
Interestingly...the population was still quite strong when I applied the strips, but has dropped steadily since then. However, the population decline also coincides directly with a rapid drop in temperatures, especially colder at night....I'm leaning toward the temperature effect.

About the sugar syrup..I wasn't able to get to it last night (too late), so I won't have a certain answer until this afternoon, but the description of the sugar solution was more saturated - he actually said there would be undissolved sugar in the bottom of the jar. Probably this saturated solution along with the 13 degrees gets the job done (I'll know for sure later).

Thanks,
- Jeff -

[SwedeBee1970]

Interesting concept with real honey. We're talking about 2:1 syrup. Water does not apply due to its viscosity. Google "Viscosity". Honey consistency is much thicker, therefore the "Surface Tension" applies.

The bees will no doubt clean out the cells and replace them with the real thing, except for a possibility of brood comb frames. That may be a different story.

[JonEdangerousli]

So water has no surface tension because it is less viscous than honey.

Got it. Now I can stop putting that surfactant-laden detergent in my laundry, saving me money.

[SwedeBee1970]

Try some honey as detergent. Your bees will love you & your wife will call you "Honey" once again !

No guarantees that your underwear won't stick to the washing machine though.

[Hambone]

13 degrees is not much. We're talking about 13 degrees off of a horizontal position, right ?

Right


Can't imagine syrup staying in place at that angle.

It does.

[SBBeeman]

The results are in and Hambone is right...and so are all the rest of you.
The saturated sugar syrup stays...no problem at all. It seems to be the convolution of the upturned 13 degree angle of the cell, the viscosity of the syrup and the surface tension of the fluid. This combined with the adhesion of the syrup to the wax makes it 'stick like glue'. Workers were on the syrup within a minute! Now all I have to do is wait until Saturday and pray for eggs (please, please, please) :waiting:

Thanks Again,
- Jeff -

[JonEdangerousli]

The results are in and Hambone is right...and so are all the rest of you

Imagine that!:doh:

***runs to laundry to replace honey with detergent***