This video will show you how to tell if your hive is missing a queen and how to put a new queen in.
This is a Queen Cage with several workers to feed her.
The Queens were shipped to Pennsylvania from Texas via Fedex
I took the cork out of the candy end, the workers in the hive will eat through the candy to release the Queen.
The "candy" is just 50/50 water and powdered sugar.
This colony of bees is just getting started, I need to make sure there is a productive Queen inside.
Light puffs of smoke, then wait a few moments before going into the hive.
You should never be in a hurry with honey bees...
These black and white frames are from the Piergo company and are made of food grade plastic.
There is a Queen in this hive and she is laying...
Move slowly and carefully, the Queen could be on this frame of brood
Lots of baby bees here...
Look carefully and you may see the Queen
There is also pollen and honey stored on this frame
the flat light colored brood frames have already hatched
the light sand colored cells that are convex still have brood in them.
I call the open celled brood Michelin Men.. white and fat, normally bent into a crescent shape..
You can hear a very calm hum from the bees
the larger cells near the bottom are for drones
I always put weight on the covers, we get very windy storms around here
This is hive number 2, I have noticed that they are not as active as they should be for such a large colony
This is an eight frame hive
Most of my hive bodies are ten frame sized
You may want to have a bucket to toss the burr comb into if you want to save and use the was
I meant to say wax
On a nice hot day like today, the comb scrapes off very easy
Because this is mid-day, most of the field workers are out of the hive and this allows me to see the comb better.
early in the morning or late in the evening there would be too many bees in here
Drone cells are larger in diameter and dome up very high like these
I also checked the bottom box and lower frames, much of the same situation
Most keepers would completely remove drone frames
Drones attract mites more than worker brood cells do
Spread the frames apart just enough to fit the new queen cage inside
The wax on the brood frame will hold it in place just fine, press it right in
The black mark end is to release the queen in case they don't chew through the candy in a few days
the rust colored burr segments are propolis
Venting the hive is very VERY important
I originally "thought" there was no Queen in this hive...
It is occupied by a very small swarm of bees
I gave them some drawn comb and honey to get them off to a good start
they still need to finish drawing out this comb
What a pleasant surprise to find the Queen doing well and laying. This hive is still building up.
A beautiful Queen
I always look at the Queen for signs of stress or injuries..
After a few days, I added a frame of brood to give this colony an extra boost. Their numbers were just too low so I wanted to make sure
Both colonies in this video chewed through the candy and accepted their new Queens....
The workers are fed through the screen
I hope you find videos like this one helpful...
Thank you for viewing