It’s come and gone. It got me thinking about the bee “mom”…the queen. A fully developed female that lays eggs…lots of them. There’s only one queen in a hive of thousands and without her everything falls apart! I’m told queens will not sting you. A queen bee will emerge from her cell in sixteen days (compared to 21/24 days for a worker or drone). In three short years of beekeeping, we have learned the pain of being queenless. It’s a terrible feeling, without a queen the hive is doomed. I’ve read that queens live for about one year compared to workers/drones that have a lifespan of just five to six weeks. Bee Biology is fascinating and we still have so much to learn!
If all is well we should currently have four queens in our apiary. Today we picked up two nucleus colonies. They came in on a truck from KY/TN area. I believe there were just over one hundred nucs on the truck.
We grabbed our two and got them situated atop their soon to be brood boxes. In a few days we will transfer the five frames that make up the nucleus colony to a brood box with an additional three frames. From there we will work to grow a strong hive of two brood boxes. It’s so late in the season I’m doubtful either of these two nucs will produce honey this season but we’ll stay optimistic and maybe be pleasantly surprised.
There’s always challenges in beekeeping. Storing frames of comb and honey in a place safe from other living things can be tricky. Today, I was introduced to the dreaded wax moth. I’d heard of them. Read about them. And today, met them. Ick. I think the damage is minimal. Having bees to protect these frames makes things so much easier. I cut out what I could and threw the frames in the freezer for a few days. Once the hives are established, I think I’ll be able to give the frames back to the bees and they will clean them up.
Ick.
I hope you were able to enjoy your Mother’s Day! I can’t help but wonder if my bees or my kids will bring more challenges in the year ahead but either way I’m happy to have the opportunity to watch both my bees and kids continue to grow and hopefully thrive!
Happy Bee-lated Mother’s Day!
-Worker Bee 2021
Howards' Hives and Honey 