To Queen, or not to Queen...

Yesterday was all about queens when we checked in on our hives at Doug and Linda's property.  Mark and I were a little nervous about our queen situation in hives 02 and 03, because we had never come across the mated and marked queens that were to be in the nucs installed in those hives.  Additionally, and surprisingly, we discovered a "virgin" queen in hive 03.  This virgin queen is a new queen that the colony has raised on their own.  We decided it would be best to order a new queen for hive 02, and give the virgin queen a fighting chance in hive 03. 

We left hive 03 in nature's hands and did not install a new mature queen.  If we were to add a new queen, she would have already been mated and ready to lay eggs immediately.  With a virgin queen, it will take time for her to mature, mate, and begin laying eggs.  And, we are counting on her to do all of this on her own, crossing our fingers that she has no issues along the way.

We picked up a new queen at BeeWeaver in Navasota for installation into hive 02.  Her wings are clipped, and she is mated and marked.  She is ready to begin laying eggs immediately.

For queen bees, the international color code is structured so that for years ending in 1 and 6, the dot is white.  For years ending in 2 and 7, the dot is yellow.  For years ending in 3 and 8, the dot is red. For years ending in 4 and 9 the dot is green.  And for years ending in 5 and 0, the dot is blue.

The queen comes in a "queen cage".  It is screened with holes in both ends, plugged with corks.  White candy is packed into one end, which not only provides the queen nourishment, but also offers the queen's slow release from the cage.  Her new colony will take a couple of days to get to know her before granting her permission to become their queen.  The time it takes for her and her new colony to consume the candy is 2-3 days, which will provide a safe distance for them to become acquainted. 

New queen saying "hello" to hive 02.

New queen installed in hive 02.

After a couple of days, the bees in hive 02 will have eaten through the white candy and will accept their new queen.  She will immediately begin laying eggs for the colony.