You need to rein him in before he kills them with kindness or curiosity.

Likely, after three days, the bees were accepting of the queen. But if she has been killed, either by the bees or by mis- or over-handling, the queen cup you see would likely not produce a new queen unless the introduced queen had started laying immediately.

I would wait about a week or so before doing anything more. Then, open the hive and see what the state of the hive is. There should be eggs, open brood and some capped brood by then if the queen is healthy. If there is no eggs or brood, and that queen cup is empty (which I suspect it might be) then order a new queen immediately.

Determine when the new queen will arrive and book Dad on a cruise that week.

No one ever said beekeeping would be a cheap hobby.

Wayne

 

Wait a week and then inspect for eggs/early larva. When the comb gets deep enough she should start laying. Seeing one queen cup isn't too big of a deal. And keep your dad out of the hive.

 

I should be installing my first two packages next week, so I can't offer anything in the way of advice. Reading your message did make me smile, though. Don't get me wrong - I'm not finding joy in your dilemma! Your dad sounds exactly like mine! My dad passed away a couple of years ago, so he won't be able to "help" me with my new beekeeping hobby. His bane was computers. He loved to go in and continuously "tweek" things until nothing worked. Then I'd get the call to come over and try and fix it. He knew nothing good would come from him messing with it, but God bless him, he couldn't stay away!


Sorry that things are getting off to a rocky start. Hopefully, you'll be able to "manage" your partner's enthusiasm. Good luck!

 

Thanks for all of the advice. Someone else told me that if the bees were bringing in pollen then more than likely the queen is still alive. I did notice many bees had pollen on their legs so that may bee a good sign.

If, by chance, they did kill the queen how long can they stay queenless? I don't want to open the hive up in a week and find them all gone. Thanks again for all the good advice!

 

Someone else told me that if the bees were bringing in pollen then more than likely the queen is still alive.

I don't think that bringing in pollen is a sign of anything, but not bringing in pollen can be a sign that they are queenless. So, right now I would say that everything looks okay and you will know for sure in a week.

 

They won't leave if they are queenless but eventually they will get laying workers. I too would wait a week then check for brood. The pollen is a good sign.

 

As difficult as you may find this to do, my advice would to calmly and patiently explain to your Dad that as with most things, someone has to be in charge. It appears to me that the "someone in charge" should be you. If approached correctly, he should realize that you have taken the time to study up on this hobby, and you would appreciate it if some rules were set before you go any further.

Working the bees together should be more fulfulling for you both, and that is the angle I would use to approach the issue. Good luck......we all know how "Dad's" can be......I'm one myself!

 

That's good advice, Roadstar. I am also a dad and I imagine that it is difficult for a dad to concede that his child knows more than he. My dad is the type of person to go against the grain, speak with confidence, secretly cross his fingers and hope it works out right. Then when it does, loudly proclaim "See, I told you!". Often wrong, but never in doubt.

 

Get another hive, one for him and one for you!

 

Yeah, and you can put a little padlock on yours!

 

Thats one reason I ended up with so many hives my first year. I could not stay out of them so I bought some more, made some splits, caught some swarms. That way I could look at a few each day. But, one thing that I did learn is you have to leave a new split or a new package alone. I watched one queen get balled last year after I had checked on them 4 times in thier first week. So try to convince him how important it is to leave them alone.

One thing about pollen is I do notice once the new queens in a walk away split start laying thats when I notice the bees bringing in more pollen. I'm sure this does not garantee anything but, it is a good sign

 

You guys are funny. I went out there today to give them some more food and noticed ants crawling around and some dead bees on the ground beside the hive. Now I want to go in and see what is going on. Alas, I will wait until next Thursday. I might be pleasantly surprised. In the meantime I will do some research and find out how to cure the ant problem.

 

I would have direct released her in the first place, but still you need to let them be for a while. I'd wait two weeks and then check on them.

 

That makes me feel a little better. You have an interesting and seemingly unique approach. Can you explain your reasoning behind it? Would 2 weeks not be too long to wait if by chance the queen was not accepted?

Thanks!

 

GAnewbee, I found the perfect hive for dad...http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Teaching-Hive/productinfo/291/

 

I direct release because I don't want them building comb on the cage and messing up their first comb, because I want the queen to be free to lay, because I want it to be like a natural swarm and because I don't have to worry about her being released.

I wait 2 weeks because sometimes it takes that long for her to start laying anyway, so I won't know anything until there. If you leave the cage in you will need to get into it much sooner to remove the cage and the messed up comb they built on it...

 

I direct release because I don't want them building comb on the cage and messing up their first comb,


this happened to us after our first install. Here I am with my 80 year old dad and my 10 year old son, the two of them brand new to beekeeping and me only a year in and they have NO patience. In this case it was a good thing because after two days, (2 3/4 according to the boys) the bees had built al over and off of the cage and the comb had been laid in. We had to pull out their hard work. THank God, these were very calm bees, because my veil was in the other car and dad refused to wear one. No gloves and only one sting, when one got squished.
(thanks fatbeeman for the gentle bees!)

Gabeekeeper, I had to tell my dad that "they" say a lot of new queens get balled (killed) if you look too soon, because they blame the intrusion on the queen. Good luck, reining in your own dad is tough! (but including him in this great hobby is awesome!!!)

 

A package of bees with queen, has no brood. If they don't take the queen that's given, they are doomed. This makes it easy to release the queen open as Michael does, as they are already bonded to the queen that was given before you get them home, and they have no way to create another queen if they don't like the one they've got. They'll take her gladly, and replace her if they don't like her, after they get more established as a hive with brood.

 

As a means of working with your helper, you may want to set a schedule and keep a log of events. Working together then can be towards specific goals.
Set a event schedule on the calandar 1st- feed, 5th-feed, 9th-check for brood/feed, etc.

The maintenance of a diary or log book helps to keep me out of my hives (I'm a yr 2 beek with 6 hives growing to 11+)

 

Get " Beekeeping for Dummies" for him, he can read that while YOU wait a week.

 

You've gotten some good advice here....

Other thoughts that may be similar...

1. You would not have seen an actual queen cell unless the queen had already started laying. It takes an egg to make a queen cell.
2. Stay out of that hive for AT LEAST a week. I mean at MINIMUM a week. If you irritate them all the time by opening the hive, they will get hotter and defensive sometimes.
3. After a week, open it back up and look for eggs or larvae in cells. If they are there, she is there doing her job.
4. If you see eggs or larvae....STAY OUT OF THE HIVE for a while. Let them build up from your feeding or nectar flow.
5. Being from Georgia, you can run a single deep, still get a super or two of honey this year with them being fine through the winter. Once they start filling out the two outside frames, go ahead and slap a queen excluder and a super on. During the honey flow, you will need to check the brood box once a week for swarm cells and pinch them off. After the flow is over(June 1st-ish), you can take the excluder and supers off. Feed them if you choose. I like put an additional super on, feed and let them have that for winter.

Just my two cents worth that someone will probably strongly disagree with...I do it this way because my father did it this way. If it ain't broke, I'm not going to fix it.

 

my father sounds very similar to your situation. he had a head injury and had an early retirement. both of those issues seem to prompt him to start messing with random things without thinking. just saying that i understand what could be a similar situation.

anyways, someone mentioned giving your dad a book. i want to recommed colin's beekeeper's bible. this book has everything a curious beekeeper would want. it's both informative and entertaining, i read it straight through.

 

If possible, have your dad video tape when you both go into the hive (and later on it will be hives! ...).

He can then watch the videos between inspections to get his fix. Oh, and get both of you on video, too, for the memories.

 

I would get him his own hive or at least get him a good book on beekeeping to read. The "Beekeeping for Dummies" is a good book. There are two editions out in the market place right now. Make sure you get the 2nd Edition as it has been updated to include more information on Russian honey bees, and now includes a short chapter on queen rearing.

 

You all have been so kind and have given excellent advice. It is much appreciated!

 

I also got mine from fatbeeman! We went out to the hive today to add some more syrup (will be making a new thread on that) and neither of us wore a veil or gloves. We also did some ant treatment and spent about 20 minutes around the hive and in front of it. Today was the first time we've been out there without protective clothing on. No stings so far! There is something to be said about fatbeeman's bees.