Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Slow laying queen
Re-queen or accept the situation
(see later in this chapter)
Not enough bees to
Allow colony to build up or, if
look after brood
serious, add more bees or unite
Not enough room for
Provide comb/clear brood nest
queen to lay
Poor brood pattern
Inbreeding, leading to
Re-queen if serious (see later
(larvae of different ages
removal of diploid drones
in this chapter)
grouped together)
and re-laying by the
queen
Swarm cells present
Colony preparing to
Carry out artifi cial swarm procedure
swarm
Two queens present
Supersedure queen
Leave alone if no fi ghting. Old
and daughter
queen will disappear. Or split hive
Swarm(s) waiting to go
Virgin(s) will probably leave with
the swarm
Table 5.
Queen/brood-nest troubleshooting guide
Introducing a new queen
There are many situations that may require you to re-queen a colony, and this is usually
a very straightforward task - as long as you can get hold of a queen. Comparatively
little research has, however, been carried out on the act of re-queening, despite its
importance in beekeeping. The research that has been done suggests, firstly, that the
receiving bees need time to adjust to the new queen and that, during this period, she
should be protected from those bees that are finding it difficult to adjust. Secondly,
there should be a balance between adult bees, brood and the queen. So if your bees are,
say, very aggressive and you want to put in a queen from a known gentle colony or race,
to increase your chances of a successful introduction, you should make sure the new
