First inspection ever - could not locate queen

**Necator** · 07-10-2011, 03:38 AM

Hi,

My first post here. I am new to beekeeping, and just got my first hive and bee family 4 days ago. Today I decided to suit up for the first time, and inspect the hive. I am using a 12 x 10 hive, so far with just one hive body.

The inspection went well, I did not upset the bees too much, but I was not able to locate the queen. Is that normal, or have I already lost my queen?

Henrik

**rrussell6870** · 07-10-2011, 04:02 AM

It's very common for newbees to not be able to see the queen... we call it going "bee blind"... no big deal... take your time and be careful pulling out frames and putting them back in... check for eggs as they may be easier for you to recognize at first... if you can't find eggs, try taking pics of each side of each frame, then look over the pics to see if you can find her... one tip that most new bee keepers take a while to learn is to rest the first frame that you pull against the outside of the hive (after looking it over of course), this way you have space to move frames in and out carefully.

Good luck and welcome to bee keeping and to the forums!

**Bsweet** · 07-10-2011, 07:37 AM

Welcome to the site and beekeeping, Was your queen marked? Even marked queens can be hard to spot all the time. It may be awhile before(a another week or more) before you even have eggs as she will need comb or the start of comb to lay in. Give it a week to 14 days and then go back in and take a look. Jim

**honeyman46408** · 07-10-2011, 07:49 AM

Welcome to "beesource" take your time and look for eggs and or larva if you see eggs the queen has been there in the past 3 days, one day when you are in the hive looking around and your not realy looking for her there she will BEE

**KQ6AR** · 07-10-2011, 07:51 AM

Hi Henrik,
It isn't necessary to see the queen, you only need to see the work she has been doing. Being able to recognize, eggs, capped worker brood, capped drone brood, will be a big help to you.
If this is a new hive you just started, its best to leave them alone a couple weeks. Sometimes bees will leave a new hive if they are disturbed to much the first week or 2.

**Necator** · 07-10-2011, 08:24 AM

Thanks, no reason to worry then. Since I am still anxious to see the queen, I have another question. How often can I inspect the hive, without causing too much disruption? Can I have a look again tomorrow, or should I give it a few days more?

**Bsweet** · 07-10-2011, 09:29 AM

As a new keeper you can go in about every 10-14 days, sure it disturbs them but thats how you learn. Alot of older keepers may only go into the hive body(s) once or twice a year. If you go in to often they may kill the queen or they mal all leave. Jim

**Desert Viking Ranch** · 07-10-2011, 10:33 AM

As a new bee keeper I would recommend going into the hive as frequently as you like. I would say once a week is fine. Yes, it may disturb them a bit but it is more important to learn.

**Necator** · 07-11-2011, 11:09 AM

Well, there was a good reason I couldn't find the queen. She died, probably during transportation. There are 5-6 queen cells on one of the frames, so looks like I'll have to get a new queen. Luckily I can get them overnight through mailorder.