Found the queen! (pic)

[Smarsh7903]

Today was super warm, so I decided to check my three hives that I rescued last fall from a derelict field in Northern New Mexico. The two deep hive made it, as well as one of the one deeps. The third single deep hives did not make it, but I did not expect it to. I pulled all the frames out of the dead hive a week ago and set up the frames that still had honey in a nearby tree. Today when I got out to the hives, sure enough I had a good little group of bees digging around in there. I decided to check them out and although I did not find the queen in the single deep hive, I found her immediately in the two deep hive . In a month or so, when the flow starts to pick up, I will check the single hive to see if I can find the queen and eggs. If I can't, is it possible to move a frame or two of eggs and brood from the bigger hive to the smaller in hope of them raising a queen? Thanks! Here she is:



and another

[beepro]

Is the first queen a carniolan queen bee? What about the second hive, is she a cordovan queen as well?
Nice big looking queen. Is that all the worker bees you have there or more somewhere else in the hive?

[Smarsh7903]

I wish I could answer your question beepro! These hives were sitting in a fallow field for 10 years untouched. A friend I worked with was talking to me last fall and said "Yea, we have some old abandoned hives on our property". So her parents gave the empty hives to me, but it turns out they were quite full! They were really hot then, but they worked just fine today. The only thing I can say for certain is that they survived by themselves at 8000 feet for 10 years! They are tough, that is for sure. I'm going to check them again in early March and if I can't find the queen to the first hive during that time, I will be a little more worried. BTW both pics are the same queen. A lot of the worker bees are on some other frames, all near the top.

[Squidink]

Great photo of the girls!

[beepro]

Those look like carniolan bees. But I am not for sure. Don't worry the other hive will still has a queen
in there in the Spring time. They have survived for so many years already until now. If no queen you just take a frame with eggs and larvae from the first hive so they can raise one their own. Two hives are better than one I think to help each others out when one is in trouble. Everything looks fine to me. Nice catch!

[wadehump]

8000 feet for 10 years they are mutts

[mgolden]

Nice pic.

Also a good chance to mark her - a yellow dot on the thorax for 2012(a guess) and the queen is then much easier to find when there is ?80,000 bees.

[GLOCK]

What a great feeling when ya find the queen first couple of times. I know once you find her the first time its much easyer the next time .
Now i can pretty much find the queen every time .
Got to love queen bee pics.
Good looking bees.

[Smarsh7903]

Thanks for the replies! I just wanted to make something clear real fast. I had a few concerned beeks pm me about having NM bees in Alabama and possibly breaking the law. I moved to NM last year and these pics of the bees I found when I moved here. I have some hives in Alabama, but they are staying there and I have no intentions of moving them anytime soon. If I do, I will do so in a lawful manner! I just wanted to say this because I do not want to get in any kind of trouble because of a misunderstanding. I know it says that I am living in Alabama, but I am not living there anymore! I tried to change that in the settings but could not figure it out! Thanks for the concern guys

[tommyt]

Good way to set the record
I read it before here the changing your
Geo. was not doable,it has to be Barry to do it or
Leave it bee
I could be wrong.

Nice pictures