I bought two nucs 15 days ago and installed into my new hives, the nuc looked really good, heavy with capped brood, honey and pollen, last weekend I checked the hives, all the brood was hatched, but I didn't see any new eggs. Today I checked again, no eggs, no larvae and the bees are not drawing out the new frames. Could I be queenless? The bees are storing necter, probably syrup and pollen in all the cells where the eggs should be. Help please!!
nuc brood hatched, no new eggs or larvae, Help!
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I find it difficult to believe that BOTH nucs are now without queens. One of them may be. Both? Check to see if you have eggs in one of them. Use a magnifying glass if need be. If so, simply take a frame of day old eggs, (they look as if they are stuck STRAIGHT to the bottom of the cell) and place it into the queenless nuke. Don't reopen it for about a week, then check rather quickly if they have made a couple of queen cells, if so close it back up and let them bee for about three weeks. OMTCW
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Hello Trunkman and welcome to BeeSource,
It sounds from your description that the nucs have gone queenless - it is weird that two nucs would simultaneously go queenless like that, so what I am about to suggest may sound overly conservative: find someone local and experienced to go through the hives with you and confirm the queen status of each hive. If the hives are queenless, get ahold of replacement queen(s) ASAP - you can have them shipped overnight but there may be someone local to you that has some.
You should have frames in your box in addition to the ones that came with the nucs - were these foundation or drawn out comb? The person you get to inspect for queen presence will in all likelihood advise you how to proceed.
A couple of other questions for you: Have you seen eggs and developing larvae before? Keep in mind I don't know your level of experience and I apologize if my questions might seem insulting. Along that same line - did you get alll the bees out of the nuc boxes when you transferred the bees to their new homes? Did you lay eyes on either queen while you were doing the transfers?
It sounds from your description that the nucs have gone queenless - it is weird that two nucs would simultaneously go queenless like that, so what I am about to suggest may sound overly conservative: find someone local and experienced to go through the hives with you and confirm the queen status of each hive. If the hives are queenless, get ahold of replacement queen(s) ASAP - you can have them shipped overnight but there may be someone local to you that has some.
You should have frames in your box in addition to the ones that came with the nucs - were these foundation or drawn out comb? The person you get to inspect for queen presence will in all likelihood advise you how to proceed.
A couple of other questions for you: Have you seen eggs and developing larvae before? Keep in mind I don't know your level of experience and I apologize if my questions might seem insulting. Along that same line - did you get alll the bees out of the nuc boxes when you transferred the bees to their new homes? Did you lay eyes on either queen while you were doing the transfers?
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Am wondering if whoever made up the nucs forgot to put the queens in them or may have been relying on them to make their own...... "heavy with capped brood" no mention of eggs, or larvae..... Might check with whomever you bought them as to the status of the queen. It makes only two weeks from purchase. OMTCW
I did check for the queen when I transferred them to the hive, I didn't see a queen in either one but I didn't look very hard because I wanted to get them in the hive as quickly as possible.
The nucs came with 5 frames full of capped brood, honey and pollen, the brood hatched within the time I checked it last weekend.
I do know what
what eggs and larvae look like, I installed a package 2 weeks before I got the nucs and within a week the packaged bees had drawn out part of the frames, laid eggs and I could see larvae growing. The package was installed April 2nd they already have several frames of capped brood, they are doing great and there is also new eggs and larvae in more frames. So yes I do know what it looks like, and no, I'm not insulted at all, I'm just learning.
I took a bee class this spring, passed with flying colors, the instructor has been beekeeping since 1966, I called him this morning and he said it sounded like the queen either absconded, or the nuc didn't accept her.
I described what I saw, no drawn foundation at all, bees are filling the normally brood cells with pollen and syrup and many dry cells.
I also figure that after 8 to 10 days I should at least see eggs or larvae, not a trace and the new foundation isn't even being paid attention to.
The nucs came with 5 frames full of capped brood, honey and pollen, the brood hatched within the time I checked it last weekend.
I do know what
what eggs and larvae look like, I installed a package 2 weeks before I got the nucs and within a week the packaged bees had drawn out part of the frames, laid eggs and I could see larvae growing. The package was installed April 2nd they already have several frames of capped brood, they are doing great and there is also new eggs and larvae in more frames. So yes I do know what it looks like, and no, I'm not insulted at all, I'm just learning.
I took a bee class this spring, passed with flying colors, the instructor has been beekeeping since 1966, I called him this morning and he said it sounded like the queen either absconded, or the nuc didn't accept her.
I described what I saw, no drawn foundation at all, bees are filling the normally brood cells with pollen and syrup and many dry cells.
I also figure that after 8 to 10 days I should at least see eggs or larvae, not a trace and the new foundation isn't even being paid attention to.
There is another possibility, and that is that the queen is there, but unable to lay because the brood area is being used for storage. Hence, no eggs or larvae. My own hive was honeybound this spring, but had been full of capped brood just 10 days earlier. Because my other hives died out over the winter, I was able to provide drawn comb. That did the trick. After 2 days, there are plenty of eggs.
I agree with Andrew in that having a second set of eyes can be of help. If you can't do this: If you have empty frames, frames with foundation, or can get drawn frames, that might do the trick. Empty frames near the former brood area might work well, and give all those new bees something to keep them busy. The goal is to provide more area for the queen.
I agree with Andrew in that having a second set of eyes can be of help. If you can't do this: If you have empty frames, frames with foundation, or can get drawn frames, that might do the trick. Empty frames near the former brood area might work well, and give all those new bees something to keep them busy. The goal is to provide more area for the queen.
I took my instructors advice and ordered 2 new queens. I will check again before I introduce them to make sure the hives are queenless, if I do find a queen I will get rid of her because up till now I know she is not doing a good job. I have a feeling one nuc was queenless because it had several queen cells. The other nuc had a queen cage and only one queen cell towards the middle of one of the frames. I will think twice before I buy another nuc from this supplier.
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On my nucs the queen was caged even though she had been laying and fully accepted. This was to ensure the queen got into hive. Check your nuc boxes. Caged in between 2 pieces of screen on ventilation side.
I almost never find that buying queens solves anything. Acceptance is best if they raise their own, and usually they don't even need a queen. Usually they have one, which may be a virgin that isn't laying and the bought ones usually end up dead...
http://bushfarms.com/beespanacea.htm
http://bushfarms.com/beespanacea.htm
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