Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Problems can arise in a colony of bees at any time of the year, and it is for this reason
that you should carry out regular inspections of your hives. Over the season, your
records will show you which hives are doing well and which aren't, and this can give you
an advantage if you want to breed your own queens later on. Obviously, you will breed
only from queens who have demonstrated desirable traits, and this will show up in your
notes. But, in a more immediate timeframe, you may find problems during one of your
regular inspections or you may just be experiencing problems generally with some or
all of your hives.
This chapter should help you to counter any problems you may come across in your
inspections, and it offers advice on strategies and methods that can assist you and your
bees to increase your output of surplus honey.
Causes and symptoms
This is a problem for beekeepers who are unable to check their colonies at regular
intervals, or whose intervals between inspections are too long. The signs are easy to
recognize. When carrying out your inspection, you see several eggs in one or more
cells, and these eggs are not right at the bottom of the cell where they should be. What
has happened is that the queen has died or is unable to lay eggs - possibly as a result
of damage when manipulated by the beekeeper. For some reason, the workers have
been unable to raise another queen from a young larva, and so the colony has become
hopelessly queenless.
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