I've had one this spring but she came back around after about 3weeks still can't figure out how or why she started laying multiple eggs glad she pulled through good luck with your queens
Michael, I agree that it could definately be a prolific queen without a critical mass of bees to keep up. They are very nice queens. But I don't know how to stop the problem. Attempting to steal bees from a strong hive to supplement a weak hive in early spring seems backwards. (I even watched a video by a wise man named Michael Palmer who said the same thing.) They did not manage to sort it out last year until I requeened. (The hives did not build and very few eggs became larvae.)I've seen this before, too. I thought it was caused by a prolific queen without a cluster that would allow an expansion of the broodnest to keep up with the comb space being filled with eggs. So, the queen goes back over the comb where she has already been.
What happens to the cells with multiple eggs? Do they sort it out leaving one larva?
Does it change with time?Michael, I agree that it could definately be a prolific queen without a critical mass of bees to keep up. They are very nice queens. But I don't know how to stop the problem.
It does not seem to get any better. As the bees die off and the hive diminished last year the queens continued to multi-lay. Very very few (if any) viable pupae would make it to capping stage. I was not patient enough to take it to the logical end to see if the hive died or she would at some point stop laying. Pinching the queen and replacing worked but they hives were down to maybe 2 frames (4-5 frames coming out of winter but lots dying on intial cleansing flights due to adverse weather or ?) by then. It just seems like a a strange biological problem a queen that can't stop laying.Does it change with time?
That question actually jarred my memory. Last year I noticed it was mostly the Arataki Queens supplied with packages. Last spring I only purchased 10 more packages. I will have to go back and check if these multilayers are all Arataki Queens again. Might be a pattern. Good question thanks Michael!Okay, where's the stock coming from?
Michael you think it might be the queens genetics?Okay, where's the stock coming from?