Monday, July 16, 2012

No eggs, no larvae, no capped brood......no queen?

I went into the old hive yesterday with Seth. 
There were a few frames with capped honey.  One section of frame was filled with pollens of all hues.
In the top brood box, there were only empty cells and capped honey.
In the bottom brood box, alas, it was the same.  No queen seen and no sign of any egg-laying activity.  Only empty cells.  Lots of bees and only a couple of drones.  There were 4 or 5 partially constructed queen cells.  All the cells on the drone frame were empty, as well.
It looks like there's no queen, again.  No capped brood means there have been no eggs for at least 3 weeks.  Perhaps I injured the queen during my last inspection, June 19.
I've decided to wait and see.  Last time this happened, the queen was replaced by the bees.  Perhaps that will happen again.  Or, the colony will die off.  I'll check again in two weeks.  Keep your fingers crossed.

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