Need help please !

JohnWayne · May 22, 2012

I got a call this evening about an hour before dark. It was my beekeeper friend and he was in trouble. I'm sure I don't understand half of this but he said he had one hive that "Lost" a queen.

I guess other hives know when there is a queen-less hive because he said the other hives started robbing from this one. Now most all the workers are gone, the honey has been robbed and the "nurse" (tend the hive, not sure if that is the real name )bees have to be fed a syrup of huge amounts of sugar.

So, I guess I'm keeping bees now. I get my first test in the morning around daylight when I feed them for the first time. I am a little nervous as I have no gear But after the truck ride when he brought them, we set the hive and removed the top so he could show me how to feed them. Almost all the bees were as calm as could be but a few seemed very nervous. Those he said, were robbers from another hive and sure enough when the screen was removed from the entrance those nervous bees took flight.

He said the bees had a couple of "queen cells" started but he was not sure he would wait. He may bring another queen tomorrow. We will see.

May 22, 2012	#16
JohnWayne Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: Hickory,North Carolina Posts: 470	I got a call this evening about an hour before dark. It was my beekeeper friend and he was in trouble. I'm sure I don't understand half of this but he said he had one hive that "Lost" a queen. I guess other hives know when there is a queen-less hive because he said the other hives started robbing from this one. Now most all the workers are gone, the honey has been robbed and the "nurse" (tend the hive, not sure if that is the real name )bees have to be fed a syrup of huge amounts of sugar. So, I guess I'm keeping bees now. I get my first test in the morning around daylight when I feed them for the first time. I am a little nervous as I have no gear But after the truck ride when he brought them, we set the hive and removed the top so he could show me how to feed them. Almost all the bees were as calm as could be but a few seemed very nervous. Those he said, were robbers from another hive and sure enough when the screen was removed from the entrance those nervous bees took flight. He said the bees had a couple of "queen cells" started but he was not sure he would wait. He may bring another queen tomorrow. We will see.