Have a queen, no eggs or brood

7857 Views 29 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Mbalboa, May 20, 2014

Mbalboa

Discussion Starter · May 5, 2014

Hello,

I inspected my new hive (and first hive) this past Friday, which marked two weeks from installing the package. It took nearly a full week for the queen to be released from the cage. I found my queen, but did not see any eggs or larva (I do have an untrained eye). There was definitely no capped brood. The queen was just walking around, there were no bees surrounding her like I've seen in pictures. Most of the cells seem to be full of syrup or nectar, and the bees have been actively bringing in pollen, though there did not seem to be a ton of stores. Lots of bees with there heads inside the cells, perhaps packing the pollen. The bees were started on foundation and they've drawn out about four frames of comb, though not all were complete. I don't know if it makes a ton of difference, but I live in central MA and the weather has been cold, rainy, and unusually windy. The bees have taken, in total, about ten pounds of sugar in a 1:1 solution. They don't seem to be making a dent in the pollen patties, though.

So my question is, is there reason for concern that I do not see eggs, even though I have a queen? Why wouldn't she have all of the workers tending her?

Any help is greatly appreciate, since I'm a brand new beekeeper.

Thanks in advance, Marc

1 - 20 of 30 Posts

psfred

· #2 · May 5, 2014

It is very easy to mistake the shine of royal jelly with a very small larvae floating in it for honey on new comb. Take a look next week -- it often takes a week or so for the queen to feed back up and start laying reliably after having been "banked", especially if she was stuck in the cage for a while.

Next week you will probably see small larvae and possibly some capped brood, starting in the middle of the frame.

In the very worst case you will have a drone layer, and it will be obvious by the large amount of drone brood, but I suspect you have eggs and larvae but don't recognize them.

Peter

Slow Drone

· #3 · May 5, 2014

If you used your smoker it's normal for some of the bees to stick their head in a cell,you'll always see that.From eggs to capped worker cells takes ten days just so you know the timing.Another eleven before they hatch 21 days total.You won't see what you see in pictures once the light hits her.I should say rarely.I don't look for the flower pattern,I look for that shiny thorax,long pointy butt,her movement catches my eye more than anything.She runs on the comb as in a bigger hurry than the rest of the bees.

RayMarler

· #4 · May 5, 2014

It can take the queen 10 days or more to start laying once she has gotten released from the cage. I would say to wait another week before getting too worried.

Mbalboa

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 5, 2014

All, thanks for your help. I'll take your advice and wait another week before getting too nervous. Thanks again!

mpgreer

· #6 · May 5, 2014

just to +1. i'm in the same boat as you in two new hives. i've spotted the queen, but no eggs. the workers "seem" happy, busy. bringing in pollen, nectar, building new wax. the weather has been so up and down, they might be just trying to figure out if it's spring or not. not much to do other than wait another couple weeks.

Mbalboa

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 8, 2014

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Bee Honeybee Honeycomb Beehive Insect

Bee Honeybee Honeycomb Beehive Insect

Just an update: Here are two pictures from my hive yesterday. I think everything looks good and you were all right. I just don't know how to find eggs yet. One of my frames (one over from the one pictured) had a considerable amount of drone brood on it. I don't know if that's unusual, but it was just an observation. Thanks again, everyone, for your help.

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franktrujillo

· #8 · May 8, 2014

some are drone but some are workers as well

frazzledfozzle

· #9 · May 8, 2014

I dont like the look of your brood, theres far too much drone brood and when you enlarge the photos there are dead larvae in a slumped "c" shape at the top of the cells very much like half moon syndrome or EFB.

Theres also drone brood being uncapped and eaten. Just dosn't look good to me

Slow Drone

· #10 · May 9, 2014

New queens will often lay a lot of drones but wil taper off.VSH would explain uncapped brood being eaten.EFB would be rare in a newly installed package.I don't see any tell tale signs of EFB or Half Moon virus.Frame probably got bumped dislodging larvae.

Mbalboa

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 9, 2014

I brushed some bees away and may have inadvertently punctured some of the cappings. I'm not sure if that's what you're seeing. There did seem to be a fair amount of drone brood, more than I expected. Will the bees decide if they need to supersede?

Slow Drone

· #12 · May 9, 2014

If she's laying more drones than they like they'll supercede if they have the larvae they need.Sometimes you get a drone layer.If that's what she ends up doing call your supplier and they'll replace her.

Mbalboa

Discussion Starter · #13 · May 9, 2014

Okay. How long do I wait before checking again and making a decision about whether or not there are too many drones?

frazzledfozzle

· #14 · May 9, 2014

Mbalboa said:
I brushed some bees away and may have inadvertently punctured some of the cappings. I'm not sure if that's what you're seeing. ?

No thats not what Im seeing. That brood is in my opinion is dodgy.

Slow Drone

· #15 · May 9, 2014

Inspect every 7 days is normal.If she's still laying like that replace her. As frank trujillo pointed out there is some worker brood. She's probably just getting the drones out of her system as some would say.

Mbalboa

Discussion Starter · #16 · May 9, 2014

Thanks very much for your help. I have another question. The pictures I've seen of brood usually show a darker, tan capping. The cappings in my picture or sort of light-yellow to white. Why the difference?

Michael Bush

· #17 · May 9, 2014

>The pictures I've seen of brood usually show a darker, tan capping. The cappings in my picture or sort of light-yellow to white. Why the difference?

Brood cappings have to breathe. In an established hive the brood cappings are made of a mixture of wax and chewed out cocoons. The cocoons are brown, so the cappings are brown. When a hive is first starting there are no cocoons to work with, so the cappings are made from a mixture of pollen and wax. This makes them very light colored, usually cream or light yellow but it can vary depending on the pollen source. This is one of the many things discovered and proven by Huber 200 years ago...

http://www.bushfarms.com/huber.htm

Mbalboa

Discussion Starter · #18 · May 9, 2014

Awesome, thanks very much for the explanation.

Mbalboa

Discussion Starter · #19 · May 17, 2014

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Hello All,

So it's been about a week and a half since the pictures above were posted. I was hoping that when I opened my hive today I would see more, better looking capped brood. this was not the case. See the images below. I don't know what order the pictures are going to post in, but the first two should be of a frame that may or may not have a queen cell forming on it. It sticks out a bit in the upper left hand corner of the pictures, and it looked to be full of jelly. It's really difficult to see in the pictures, they're pretty blurry. The next couple pictures are of a frame of brood, really the only frame. There are very few capped cells, fewer than a week and a half ago. There are lots of larvae around the outer edges, particularly in the lower right hand of the pictures.

I'm just looking for some opinions. It's now four weeks since hiving my package. If those are queen cells and they're planning to supercede, do I just let them? I'm worried there will be no nurse bees left by the time the new queen lays.

Bee Honeybee Beehive Insect Membrane-winged insect

Honeycomb Bee Honeybee Beehive Insect

Bee Beehive Honeybee Brown Membrane-winged insect

Bee Honeybee Beehive Insect Membrane-winged insect

Bee Honeycomb Honeybee Beehive Insect

Bee Honeybee Beehive Honeycomb Beekeeper

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rweakley

· #20 · May 17, 2014

Mbalboa said:
Hello All,

So it's been about a week and a half since the pictures above were posted. I was hoping that when I opened my hive today I would see more, better looking capped brood. this was not the case. See the images below. I don't know what order the pictures are going to post in, but the first two should be of a frame that may or may not have a queen cell forming on it. It sticks out a bit in the upper left hand corner of the pictures, and it looked to be full of jelly. It's really difficult to see in the pictures, they're pretty blurry. The next couple pictures are of a frame of brood, really the only frame. There are very few capped cells, fewer than a week and a half ago. There are lots of larvae around the outer edges, particularly in the lower right hand of the pictures.

I'm just looking for some opinions. It's now four weeks since hiving my package. If those are queen cells and they're planning to supercede, do I just let them? I'm worried there will be no nurse bees left by the time the new queen lays.

View attachment 10897 View attachment 10898 View attachment 10899 View attachment 10900 View attachment 10901 View attachment 10902

Some of that is just the bees making goofy wax (I thought they never did that on foundation? :lookout: LOL) The rest with out a closer look into the cells is either horrible brood pattern or brood that has emerged and the queen has relaid. If it's the former I'd want a new queen pronto.

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