What's Going On Datsyuk?

Ten days ago when I peeked into the Datysuk hive to see that all the queen cells were open and the hive behaved 'queen-right', but the population was diminished with no eggs or brood, I gave them a few more days and then rechecked... still no queen sighting. With so few bees in the hive it should have been easy to spot the queen but I didn't see her anywhere. I gave them one last chance by moving over two frames of eggs and more bees from the Dmitry hive so they could make a queen.

Another week goes by, and no queen cells present! There must be a tiny queen in the hive otherwise the bees would have jumped at the chance to make a queen. There are so few bees in the hive now that it should be very easy to spot her but again, I didn't find her.

I keep reciting in my mind the proverbial bee-keepers' saying: A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly meaning that the later in the year it is, the less time there will be for bees to collect pollen from flowers in blossom. The main nectar flow in my area is nearly over with most grasses, trees and shrubs past their bloom. I think this will be it for the Datsyuk hive, and like the Red Wings for which Pavel Datsyuk plays, they had a great start this year with every available opportunity but they just couldn't make it in the end.

One Last Chance for Three Hives This Season

New Dmitry Queen is Laying!

Opened the Dmitry hive to find the top box of 8 getting cleaned up and ready for honey because the next 5 are literally full of nectar with the bottom 2 being used for storing pollen. Not looking for the queen through all those boxes, I was more interested in finding eggs and brood, which I did! The queen isn't laying in a strong brood pattern yet but at least this is proof that this hive now has a laying queen and that I have managed to do something right to keep two hives going in the apiary. 

As you can see, there's not much room to for her to lay as the bees are going gang-busters fulling every available cell with nectar. I only need a couple of frames with brood and eggs to give the Datsyuk hive one last chance. It's getting late for the nectar flow so I know I'll have to tend both the Beagle and Datsyuk hive through the winter if they don't get the hive strongly established by fall. Thankfully, the Dmitry hive will have so much honey that I'll be able to use some on the other two hives. 

Eggs and Larvae for the Datsyuk Hive.

I moved this frame along with one other that is full of eggs and young larvae so the bees will have plenty to select from to make a new queen. After 3 days, the egg becomes larvae and remains in that state for 5 days. In the above photo, you can clearly see the white larvae curled up in the cells. In this photo, if you look closely, you'll see an egg or two as well as the little comma shapes of younger larvae. 

Since it is already late May, this will be the last attempt I can make this season for splitting out a third hive. I'm doubtful another emergency queen will be all that strong, but all I hope for is a queen that will get the hive going. I can supplement both brood and food from Dmitry if needed. I'll check in on the hive in a week to see if they've selected an egg or two for their new queen. Fingers crossed!  

We have a Queen!

Burr Comb in the Beagle Hive

I waited nearly three weeks for the queens to hatch, mate and begin laying before I checking in on the two splits. I started with the Datsyuk hive, the walk-away split and was not surprised to see the population way down and nearly all the food gone as they've been taking from the entrance feeder like crazy! Remember that I wrote that emergency queens are sometimes not a strong queen? The couple that I've had started out quite small so I took my time searching for the queen. The hive was gentle and chained when I pulled out a frame, leading me to believe she is there, but I didn't see her and I certainly did not see signs of brood which I expected to be present.

Beagle Queen

The Beagle hive was fiesty and so full, those silly bees were making burr comb everywhere! And there is brood but I was most excited to spot the lovely, light and very fat queen!

My plan is to inspect the Dmitry hive soon, weather permitting - we have rain forecast for the next few days, and if they have a queen now and she's laying well I may move a frame and a bunch of bees over to the Datsyuk hive and give them one more try at making a queen. Or I may see if I can purchase a queen locally as I know a couple of beekeepers who produce good queens.