Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
son, the colony is living hand-to-mouth with little chance to build reserves. The more
you can help, the better off they will be.
So, what if you don't find eggs? It happens. Perhaps the queen wasn't mated at the
producer's before she was sent, or the disease nosema affected her, or she was injured in
transit or installation, or in spite of your best efforts and judgment she wasn't accepted
by the colony and was killed? Look to see if she's there. In a colony this small, if she is
alone and walking around she will be fairly easy to find. Listen for the telltale buzzing
sounds of a queenless colony.
Queen Replacement
When you lose a queen during introduction, immediately contact the business from
which you purchased her and let them know what happened. They may offer a free
replacement, but you pick up the shipping. Don't argue or debate their decision.
They may have good advice on introduction techniques, or perhaps they have had
mating problems and a replacement is due. Or you may have goofed. However, if
they become defensive or obstinate (a rare occurrence), consider a different queen
producer.
When the queen arrives, introduce her using the same techniques as before,
mindful that this new queen didn't have two- to three-day acquaintance time in the
package. After ten or twelve days, you need to inspect the broodnest again to re-
cord the quality and quantity of the brood the queen is producing. There should
be eggs, open brood, and sealed brood roughly in the proportion of 1:2:4. That
is, there should be twice as much open brood as there are eggs, and nearly twice
as much sealed brood as open brood. This may vary widely, depending on how
long the queen has been laying, so put some—though not too much—stock in this.
Later, the ratio is important.
Also look at the sealed brood, noting solid patterns in the center of the frame
surrounded by open brood and eggs. Drone brood should not be present anywhere
in the center. A drone-laying queen needs to be replaced immediately, as does a
queen who has a lot of empty cells in her broodnest.
As difficult as it may seem, and as frustrating as it can be, never debate repla-
cing a queen who isn't performing well. Bad queens never get better, and a bad
queen will, at best, head only a mediocre colony and may cause its demise and
death. Requeen at the first signs of a problem. It's a small investment in an entire
season. Don't be cheap when it comes to queens—you will always be sorry.
