[JakeTheBeeMan]

Hello all,

I have one hive (two deep with two shallow supers [one almost filled]) and it appears my Carniolan queen that came with my package bees back in April has died or left the hive. The hive is bustling and filled with bees and capped brood but no eggs. All the open cells are filled with water/nectar. I spotted 2 queen cells on one of the upper parts of a frame just today and they are already both capped. A week ago we had really heavy rains, following those rains it was very humid and the bees started bearding (at least what I thought was bearding) where they just swarmed out of the hive and just hung out on the bottom board for about three days in a giant mass. Then they either went back into the hive or just flew away (doubting flying away though) . My question is: Do I let the bees make their own queen with it being August 11 or do I try to scrounge the internet for apiaries that still might have Carniolan queens? And if I do let them make their own queen, would she have time to fully mate or would she just over winter and try next spring? I also read that NC has had some Africanized bee swarms around the coastal plains where I live.

All help is deeply appreciated with me being a "new-bee"
-Jake

 

[shinbone]

If it were me, this late in the season I would get a queen over-nighted to me. That way you will be getting eggs in a few days rather than a few weeks.

As of 10 days ago, Pendell Apiaries in California still had Cordovan Italians. They accept orders 7 days a week, so at least you could call them tomorrow morning and see if they still have queens available.

 

[kilocharlie]

Don't kill those supercedure cells!

If neither one hatches, and you can get a queen, get it and introduce her using a Laidlaw cage, but if either or both of the supercedure cells hatch, use the winner.

Worst case - no queens come back successfully mated, no local queens available, order one from Olivarez near Kona, Hawaii.

Good luck!

 

[dsegrest]

In Rocky Mount, I think you have plenty of time for the Queen to hatch, get bred, start laying and buildup for winter. A lot of people in the Charlotte area are just now making their walk-away splits.

 

[Zookeep]

yep if it fails just get a Kona queen I just had 5 dropped off at my house from Hawaii.

 

[olympic]

Yes best to get a new queen from Kona.

 

[dphillipm]

Yes best to get a new queen from Kona.

How much did the five kona queens cost. I'm getting four NWC shipped to me Monday. I would feel good about my chances if the hive already has two cells. The interruption in brood should help knock the mite count down. The breeds that do good with mites seem to swarm more. This could be natures way.

 

[JakeTheBeeMan]

Did a quick peek in, both of the cells are empty and the bees are deconstructing them. I will look into these kona queens as the bees havent made progress of building new comb or anything like that. (They just sit around the entrance, no one goes out to forage)

 

[JakeTheBeeMan]

Well things have taken a turn for the worse. They raised that queen, super seceded her with a new queen that I found Friday the 12th. I peeked in Sunday the 21st to see if the bees would have enough stores to last them through the winter (which they do) but they still dont have any eggs or larvae. There are a few cells with brood but those have been capped for a while now. Im thinking about purchasing a queen but seeing how the bees are acting, its like they don't even want a queen anymore. Let the bees die out and install new package next season or install new queen and hope for the best?