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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
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