Bee Yard Visit May 23 - Full of Surprises!

Mark and I ordered five new Weaver queens from BeeWeaver Apiaries in Navasota, Texas and we were eager to get them into their new homes at the bee yard.  We only needed four new queens, but knowing our luck, we decided to order a spare.  Mark was tied up on May 23, so I ventured out to the bee yard alone for the requeenings.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

 

A huge wolf spider enjoying a bee for lunch.

The bees in hive 01 were calm when I checked the colony and they were working away.  This hive was not on the list for a new queen, but since I was already there I wanted to be sure there was no change since our last visit.  I feel good about this colony.

 

Bottom deep hive box of 01.

I found our queen in hive 02 and quickly dispatched her as Mark and I had planned.  I placed the new queen (in her queen cage) between two frames.  In a few days, she will escape and take charge.  We’re hoping to see a lot of improvement with this colony now.

 

New Weaver queen for hive 02.

Hive 02 with new queen in place.

I found a big surprise in hive 03.  I had a Weaver queen to add to this colony, as during our last visit the colony was without a queen, brood, larvae and eggs.  When I looked at frames in the bottom deep hive box, there was a lot of capped brood and new larvae, which was completely unexpected.  I searched for a queen and eventually found her.  She was a virgin queen that mated and came back to her colony and got right to work.  I was on a mission to put the new Weaver queen in this colony, but now had a decision to make; keep the mated queen alive or replace her with the Weaver queen.  I decided to leave the mated queen in the hive.  We may have a chance to use the Weaver queen in another colony, or if not, I have beekeeper friends who I’m sure would love a Weaver queen.

 

Hive 03 has two deep hives and one super.

Bottom deep hive box of hive 03.

Tons of brood in hive 03.
When we last visited there was no brood at all.

Young larvae in hive 03.

Another frame full of brood.

Here's a photo of the new queen that the colony has reared themselves.
She has mated and returned to her colony and
is already doing a fantastic job.

Hive 03 took a lot of time to work during my visit and it was pretty hot outside, so I thought I’d take on hive 06 next.  I was expecting hive 06 to be easy; empty of bees and ready to take home for storing until we're ready to establish a new colony.  Yet, I found another surprise.  Even though there weren’t many bees left in this deep hive box, they were still trying to make a new queen.  When I pulled a frame out, I inadvertently damaged a queen cell with a larva in it.  And, on another frame, I noticed the bees were constructing more queen cells.  Apparently, these bees wanted a new queen, so I gave them a Weaver queen.  Amazingly enough, I think this colony has a really good chance of rebounding.

 

Hive 06 opened.

Hive 06 queen larva that I damaged when pulling a frame.

Hive 06 bees making more queen cells.

A new Weaver queen in hive 06.

I quickly looked at hive 07 to double-check the colony was still doing well like it was during our last visit.  I opened the top deep hive box quickly and did not see the queen, but new eggs and new larvae were in some cells. Because it was hot and I was wearing out fast, I didn’t inspect the bottom deep hive box.  However, it seems all is well with hive 07.

 

A blurry photo, but eggs and new larvae can be seen.

Hive 08 was scheduled for a new Weaver queen.  During our last visit, we found a virgin queen and decided she would be replaced.  We’ve never been successful with virgin queens in our hives (except now for hive 03).  Several times we have gambled that the virgin queens would venture out to mate then return, and we're always heartbroken when it didn’t work out.  Our odds seemed much better when we add caged queens to the colonies.  But, surprised again, I found capped brood, new larvae and eggs.  All of which were not there when we visited last.  It seems that this new queen made it out to mate and returned, just like the 03 queen.  I decided to keep this mated queen in the colony and not replace her.  She is doing a wonderful job.

 

Bees in the bottom deep hive box of hive 08.

Tons of larvae now.

I didn't requeen hive 05.  That was all the energy I had for beekeeping on such a hot day.  We plan on visiting the bee yard again in one week and will add a Weaver queen to hive 05.  We will double check the others too, and we’ll be ready with extra queens should we need them.