A honey bee queen is a chosen one, they are chosen by the worker honey bees when the colony is in need of a new queen, the making of a queen is triggered usually by a combination of conditions such as congestion in the hive and lack of egg laying space. When the first virgin queen leaves her cell two things can now occur, either the first virgin queen leads a smaller swarm from the hive (called a cast) or she locates the other queen cells and kills the other virgin queen bee inside the queen cells by stinging through the wax wall of their cells. Just today I saw a queen cell opened up by some workers and the virgin queen's head emerge, I was happy to saw that scenery but I still had those fear of loosing the virgin queen bee, for the first 5 days of the virgin queen was critical, I lost some queen bee that emerge during the rainy days maybe because when they had their first flight the weather might not be good. A virgin queen as I describe it has a short abdomen and not engorged with sperm glands from male bees. Virgin queens appear to have little queen pheromone and often do not appear to be recognized as queens by the workers. A virgin queen in her first few hours after emergence can be placed into the entrance of any queenless hive or nuc and acceptance is usually very good. I am producing queens using the split type method, it is not easy to split a hive and there is no guarantee, for a new queen might not emerge, might not mate and of course the first mating flight was so critical. I am always hopeful that the first flight of the virgin queen bee will be successful because it is never guaranteed there is always that fear in me that she might not make it on her first flight or she might be killed. As of the splits that I have made in 4 Nuc boxes I already have 1 mated queen, 2 virgin queens and 1 queenless . October is fast approaching and I'm getting ready for their build-up period, dearth period was not an easy stage for the beekeeper and the bees but we are almost at the end of it for this year.
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During a visit in my apiary I saw some bees on the ground with deformed wings, it was during my weekly inspection that I saw a young Varroa Mite on a brood and an adult Varroa Mite on a bee this confirmed that a colony was infested by Varroa Mites. Varroa mites are external honeybee parasites that attack both the adults and the brood, with a distinct preference for drone brood. They suck the blood from both the adults and the developing brood, weakening and shortening the life span of the ones on which they feed. Emerging brood may be deformed with missing legs or wings. Untreated infestations of varroa mites that are allowed to increase will kill honeybee colonies. Losses due to these parasitic mites are often confused with causes such as rainyday mortality and queenlessness if the colonies are not examined for mites. Varroa Mites start to attack during the dearth period where there is a scarcity of of food for the bees, Varroa can easily overwhelm a colony, there are two types of Varroa Mites: The Varroa Jacobsoni and the Varroa Destructor which are both serious pest of honey bee colonies worldwide. Treatments that is widely used to control Varroa Mites was the "Apistan" which fight mites through contact, the ratio is 1:5 which is 1 strip of apistan is to 5 Frames in the colony and will be hanged on colony for 6-8weeks. Apistan strips contain the miticide fluvalinate and are not to be used during honey flow, or when there is surplus honey present in the colony that may be removed for human consumption at a later date. Therefore, during the start of dearth period, after removal of surplus honey or prior to honey flow, are the best times to treat for varroa mites. I already had those Apistan strips with me and are ready to treat the colony that is affected by the mites. Honey flow was over and rainy days are here we call this period "Dearth Period" because during this period there is scarcity of food for the bees, one of the problems that occur during this periods for the bee keeper is the sudden aggressiveness of bees. Due to scarcity of food some bees may rob food from other colonies, thus the aggressiveness of bees take part, bees being robbed become aggressive defenders of their stores. This often results in a cloud of bees around a hive, just experienced a colony that I have to be so aggressive, it was my first time to handle the bees that aggressive even the smoker that I have didn't work I was afraid that they may be queenless because of their aggressiveness but lately I was wrong, due to the sudden change of weather a colony of bees that I have produced too many drones and I guess the abrupt change of weather was a factor for it, and the rainy weather, especially when it comes with heat and high humidity, makes bees cranky as well. During the “dog days of summer” no amount of fanning helps evaporate the nectar or cool the hive. It is already July and rainy season start early and though the bees still do have nectar sources it has slowed down dramatically. The bees are in defensive mode to protect their food source from any predator and also from the bees who may also rob their food. Things to do during rainy season is to put an entrance reducer if there is some fighting and some weird activities that you see in the entrance, and always have your smoker light up during inspection in case they really become really aggressive, but the last time I did my inspection I didn't use smoker at all, for the last time I used smoker they became aggressive some fellow beekeeper's advice if you use a smoker during inspection just lightly smoke them, two puffs of smoke at the entrance and then two puffs at the top after you have cracked the cover just enough to get the smoke in, and as of my last inspection I saw the queen and still have to observe in days to come, everyday is a learning experience and it is always good to know the bees. I am always thankful for them for it was a wonderful honey season they spent with me this year. Beekeeping is LOVE! |
Dilan's Apiary
Address: Kagudoy Road, Basak, Lapu-Lapu City Archives
June 2022
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