The Honey Factory

[R2elk]

but I think I see uncapped larva too.

There is definitely uncapped larvae.

 

[R2elk]

Hopefully those are just drone cells!!
I bet R2elk will be able to answer that question!

Maybe in person, but not from those pictures.

 

[karenerwin]

There is definitely uncapped larvae.

So what does the uncapped larvae tell you? Is that a worker/nurse bee problem or a queen problem or ??

 

[duluthralphie]

Uncapped larva means I had a queen 4-6 days ago.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Maybe in person, but not from those pictures.

that’s a person to talk bees with... even on the internet...

When I saw the pics I had two main thoughts... one was ‘it looks like____...’ the other was ‘it’d be a guess at best without being there...’

I started to respond earlier and ask Ralphie, ‘what do you think is going on?’...

I was taught that a mentor worth having, bee or otherwise, asks you the right questions to steer you to the correct answers... and/or to steer you away from the wrong questions...

Or another way to say it is, if a mentor has more ‘answers’ than questions... walk away...

Soooo, so true of beekeeping...

Keeping bees is local... on a granular level... 20 minutes north, might be a different situation... the hive 20 feet east sitting in a more shaded spot might be a different situation, the hive sitting 20 inches away might be a different situation...

My point ( if I have one ) on forums like this... is to ask questions, provide pics, and keep learning .... but understand there are very few bee keeping ‘answers’ to be found in the internet...

but that doesn’t mean stop sharing... this thread so far has beeN Better than many on dedicated bee forums (if you disregard my nonsense, lol)

I’m not a mentor level beek, but I have mentored others in a professional area of expertise...

I’m a hobby beek... I learn and forget the same lessons over and over... I’m ALWAYS a day late on all thing’s bee related... but stmy bees manage... pretty dang well if I leave them alone...

And when they don’t... I learn something....

The best part about bees is learning about bees... that honey ain’t awful either though

keep sharing... I did checks recently... I’m queenless in my caught swarm hive, the original and the other split from that both raised new queens... I have another hibe in the back forty that I peeked on while brush hogging... they’re doing fine, but are always a bit lazy about putting up honey... think the hive location is missing afternoon sun, so they quit early in the day despite an abundance of blackberries, etc under their bee noses

Hope that makes sense... I’m guarding porch kittens from mulberry loving raccoons and got interrupted three times as I typed... i hear they’re back...so I’m off to harass them again, lol

 

[duluthralphie]

I am not sure of what I have because I made and error.

I saw those and tried to take a decent photo, but my IPhone is an overly expensive piece of crap, and I did not have a holder to lay the frame against.

They look like a superseder cell, and a swarm cell. They are much larger than the drone cells I had.

Also I noted last night the bees in that hive are being kind of lazy and just hanging around on the landing.

I expected more brood and honey cells than I saw also. I did not see the queen, but that’s no biggie, she is unmarked.

I did not lift the top brood box off and look in the bottom box, I am thinking of peeking into it tomorrow.

I also want to see how much brood I have. If the bottom looks dismal, I might have to run and pick up a new queen.

I saw drones leaving my other hive yesterday, flying up and off to the north, they went high, I assumed some one lost a queen, as the drones normally just lay around.
But I don’t know for sure.

So, I don’t know what I have. Yet.

 

[CindyinSD]

I believe that I read that the queen will mate with a drone from a different hive. The drones go out in hopes of a sweet foreign gal. Sorry if I'm wrong--that's what I recall, to the best of my somewhat meagre abilities.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I am not sure of what I have because I made and error.

I saw those and tried to take a decent photo, but my IPhone is an overly expensive piece of crap, and I did not have a holder to lay the frame against.

They look like a superseder cell, and a swarm cell. They are much larger than the drone cells I had.

Also I noted last night the bees in that hive are being kind of lazy and just hanging around on the landing.

I expected more brood and honey cells than I saw also. I did not see the queen, but that’s no biggie, she is unmarked.

I did not lift the top brood box off and look in the bottom box, I am thinking of peeking into it tomorrow.

I also want to see how much brood I have. If the bottom looks dismal, I might have to run and pick up a new queen.

I saw drones leaving my other hive yesterday, flying up and off to the north, they went high, I assumed some one lost a queen, as the drones normally just lay around.
But I don’t know for sure.

So, I don’t know what I have. Yet.

take this as what it is... which is not much... I just played joust with a possum using a tomato stake and got him to go vacate... only to turn around and see his cousin when I came back around...


I didn’t look closely... but my immediate impression was a spotty brood pattern... meaning the queen was growing old, running out of bee making batter, or whatever... the bees knew this and started making queen cells... which in that case would bee supersedeure cells...

I didn’t look back at the pics just now... but will try to do do later... but if others see it differently feel welcomed to say you see something different, etc.

 

[duluthralphie]

take this as what it is... which is not much... I just played joust with a possum using a tomato stake and got him to go vacate... only to turn around and see his cousin when I came back around...


I didn’t look closely... but my immediate impression was a spotty brood pattern... meaning the queen was growing old, running out of bee making batter, or whatever... the bees knew this and started making queen cells... which in that case would bee supersedeure cells...

I didn’t look back at the pics just now... but will try to do do later... but if others see it differently feel welcomed to say you see something different, etc.

She is a new queen, I got her in a cute little cage in April.

I will look tomorrow and see what the bottom looks like. I am thinking the back side of that frame had solid brood, but I pulled the other hive and could be confused on that. Old age and all.

 

[duluthralphie]

Also I could be over worrying this.