Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
wax coverings. This is a sure sign of a laying worker colony because those are
drone cell cappings and workers can only produce drones. Now you have a differ-
ent problem.
You must replace the lost queen as soon as possible. And you should know that
once a colony has reached this point, recovery isn't guaranteed.
If you started another package that is progressing normally, take the fullest
frame of brood (complete with eggs and open and sealed brood), brush off the
bees, and put the frame into the colony with the new queen cage. If available, take
two frames from this other colony and add them to the distressed colony.
Put the new queen's cage adjacent to the brood frame or between brood frames so
the bees in the colony get the essence of the eggs, open and sealed brood, and a
queen.
This may halt the development of additional laying workers, but it probably
won't stop those that are laying. Your only hope is that they will soon expire leav-
ing the colony once more with only one laying female—your new queen.
If the queen is accepted, she will slowly bring order to the colony, begin to lay
eggs, produce colony-cohesive pheromones, and life will return to normal. This is
the most likely scenario.
If this queen is not accepted and you have no other to draw on, this colony is
most likely doomed. You can try to purchase a summer split from a local supplier.
Your last choice is to get rid of the doomed bees by shaking them if front of your
other colony and put away your equipment for this season, ready to try again next
year.
This is an example of a good brood pattern and a productive queen. This is what
you are looking for by mid- to late summer in most places: lots of bees, and a fair
amount of open and sealed brood in the colony.
