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she was fine going into winter. come springtime, not only is she stunted, but theres a bit of a hollow in the tip of her abdomen. assuming i did not damage her myself during the last fall inspection, could this be a bit of frostbite?
here is notes from this hive (most recent first, sorry):
--- Inspections ---
06/14/2014
Strength: 40%
Notes: coming along. beautiful queen. good laying pattern, just small brood area due to
lack of bee population.
06/01/2014
Strength: 30%
Notes: looked quick. eggs but didnt happen to see queen. no larvae?
05/25/2014
Strength: 20%
Notes: virgin queen emerged. small numbers.
05/18/2014
Strength: 10%
Notes: queens not emerged from cells yet, 3 capped. numbers dwindling again.
05/12/2014
Strength: 15%
Notes: added frame with 3 qcells, two capped, one uncapped with grub. mid-frame, smooth, on small side.
05/06/2014
Strength: 5%
Notes:
removed poor laying queen 2 days ago. moved to 5-frame nuc. added Qcell with larvae and bees/brood
from hive5. very low population of ~100. these bees dont fly so well since coming
out of winter. queen abdomen appeared damaged, frostbite?
03/22/2014
Temperature: 48 degrees Fahrenheit
Strength: 15%
Notes: eating, but not much. not flying. still no eggs. added one pollen patty.
03/12/2014
Temperature: 46 degrees Fahrenheit
Strength: 30%
Notes: not eating. no eggs yet.
02/22/2014
Strength: 50%
Notes: 1/2 box cluster. put 2 winter patties in. (in comparison my other hive took up almost a whole deep box)
i chose to help them out no more than adding the one frome of brood with the queen cells. i did not want to take much from my other hives as i wanted to make strong splits to increase this year. they are now making steady progress, just really slow since stumbling back from such a low population. only working 3 frames. looking to see what i can learn from this experiment of letting them build up mostly on thier own.
so, back to original question, any ideas what would hurt her like this?
here is notes from this hive (most recent first, sorry):
--- Inspections ---
06/14/2014
Strength: 40%
Notes: coming along. beautiful queen. good laying pattern, just small brood area due to
lack of bee population.
06/01/2014
Strength: 30%
Notes: looked quick. eggs but didnt happen to see queen. no larvae?
05/25/2014
Strength: 20%
Notes: virgin queen emerged. small numbers.
05/18/2014
Strength: 10%
Notes: queens not emerged from cells yet, 3 capped. numbers dwindling again.
05/12/2014
Strength: 15%
Notes: added frame with 3 qcells, two capped, one uncapped with grub. mid-frame, smooth, on small side.
05/06/2014
Strength: 5%
Notes:
removed poor laying queen 2 days ago. moved to 5-frame nuc. added Qcell with larvae and bees/brood
from hive5. very low population of ~100. these bees dont fly so well since coming
out of winter. queen abdomen appeared damaged, frostbite?
03/22/2014
Temperature: 48 degrees Fahrenheit
Strength: 15%
Notes: eating, but not much. not flying. still no eggs. added one pollen patty.
03/12/2014
Temperature: 46 degrees Fahrenheit
Strength: 30%
Notes: not eating. no eggs yet.
02/22/2014
Strength: 50%
Notes: 1/2 box cluster. put 2 winter patties in. (in comparison my other hive took up almost a whole deep box)
i chose to help them out no more than adding the one frome of brood with the queen cells. i did not want to take much from my other hives as i wanted to make strong splits to increase this year. they are now making steady progress, just really slow since stumbling back from such a low population. only working 3 frames. looking to see what i can learn from this experiment of letting them build up mostly on thier own.
so, back to original question, any ideas what would hurt her like this?
