So much going on… I’ll finish this story first.
I released my three new queens into their hives where they’ve been acclimating themselves and their new subjects. Two went smoothly, I opened their queen cages and they came out in a minute or so… One hive didn’t act very receptive, so I’m not sure how well that’s going to go.
Still, I did all I knew to do, so if it works, it works.
(Bryant Honey was so very nice to put bright yellow dots on the queen to help locate her. I appreciate that Very Much!)
Joan wanted to know how you recognize the queen when they DON’T have bright dots on them… They are much longer than the rest of the bees. They look very elegant actually. They are made to lay thousands of eggs, and once you see her, you know what you’re looking at.
Old queens or worker queens don’t lay healthy larvae and those in random patterns, where a new, young queen lays one egg in every cell, creating an entire brood comb. The hive will not be healthy, or strong enough to make the winter with a weak queen. The entire viability of the hive rests with the queen.
Hopefully, these new queens will work out. Time will tell.
Long Live the Queens!
Find me here!
What a job to have. Putting dots on queen bees. With my shaking hands they would look like Zebra’s.