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Post by Laurie on Jun 7, 2016 14:19:39 GMT -7
Hi. I'm new to beekeeping (two months) and I think my queen died. The hive swarmed last month, and this is the "remnant" hive. I know there was a queen there: While I didn't actually see the queen, the queen cell was open and I saw capped worker brood and eggs two weeks ago (large "hatching" happened Monday last week), and saw capped worker brood and larvae and eggs as recently as last Tuesday.
Today I went to check and see if they needed a 2nd brood box, but although there were lots of busy bees, there was no expansion beyond the original 5-1/2 frames and those busy bees weren't building any more comb. The five center frames have open cells (looks like previous brood) and some scattered capped worker brood, but no larvae or eggs; the outer frames are totally empty, with just some bees running around on the plastic foundation. Frame 4 had a large honey ring around the top and sides. I didn't see a pollen ring on any of the frames.
My thought is that my queen somehow died. Does that sound like a reasonable interpretation of what I saw? Although I never saw her, I think I was pretty careful in handling the frames, but I guess anything's possible.
Any suggestions welcomed, please! Thanks. --Laurie
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