Okay, sorry for the realllllly stupid question here, if there is no queen, will the workers still bring back pollen?

Stan Gore: yes

Heather Bee: Thanks Stan

Stan Gore: Heather Bee do you know you lost your queen?

Heather Bee: Stan Gore When we did an inspection 2 or 3 weeks ago and found no eggs/brood so we immediately got a new queen. Long story short.. she flew away with her entourage. There was a queen cell that we left so we don’t know. It’s been a week and plan to inspect tomorrow but am afraid of what we’ll find.

James Slemp: Heather Bee from a Q cell emerging it could be several weeks before seeing any eggs from that Q

Steve Thomas: They will continue to do their jobs until the hive dies out. I went about a month queenless before getting a virgin queen to start things off again

Heather Bee: I’m just worried that it’s so late in the season for them to start all over.

Charlie E Rivers: Heather Bee get a mated queen & feed, feed, feed. You still have time, however you will need to watch them close in the Spring to make sure that they do not starve.

Heather Bee: Charlie E Rivers We did, she wound up flying away.

Charlie E Rivers: Heather Bee Did you keep her caged for several days?

Heather Bee: We had fully intended to.. we had her in there 3 days but then had an issue when it came time to remove the cork, the candy dislodged and they all escaped.

Charlie E Rivers: Heather Bee Did you not remove the cork on the candy end when you put the cage in the hive?

Heather Bee: Charlie E Rivers No, our mentor told us to keep the cork in for 3 days and then to remove it.

Heather Bee: Blaine Fisher We were waiting until our inspection tomorrow because someone told us there is a 50% chance they will come back. It’s only been 5 days. If she’s not there, we’ll get a new one tomorrow.

Charlie E Rivers: Heather Bee Sorry, You were told wrong. We all have our learning stages, but it makes better beekeepers

Heather Bee: It was heartbreaking to watch them all leave. We kept calling after them but they wanted nothing to do with us.

Lynn Sutton: My mated queen flew away from the hive after 5 days in her cage. I cried as she danced toward the heavens. I left her cage on the landing board for two days. An inspection 7 days later and there she was, happily laying eggs.

MarcOlga Kirdan: Charlie E Rivers What do you recommend feeding the queen with?

Heather Bee: Lynn Sutton That’s wonderful Lynn! I’m glad she came back to you! Maybe there’s hope for us too then? We left her cage on the landing board as well. Can’t wait till tomorrow to take a peek.

Charlie E Rivers: MarcOlga Kirdan, you feed the bees in the hive with 1;1 sugar water & they feed the queen.

Alan Hillhouse: Yes

Stan Gore: if you lost your queen and have no young larvae for them to make a new one you will see laying workers like this. Laying workers is a dead end road. Don’t let that happen. First thing make sure you have a queen…if not get one. good luck!!

Heather Bee: Great, thanks for posting this Stan. We’ll look for those tomorrow.

Stan Gore: this is normal queen laying. Center standing egg.

Heather Bee:

Heather Bee: This is what we found on our initial inspection.. no capped at all or eggs.

Michael Webster: Heather Bee what are u referring too in this pic

Heather Bee: I was just showing Stan when we first found out there was no queen. Before we got the other queen.

Michael Webster: Heather Bee oh gotcha. I thought u meant that was a queen cell in that pic. And Liz is from California. She’s just a big love bug lol

Heather Bee: Nope, just part of their wonky building ways. 🙂

Liz Savage: There are NO really stupid questions. Please keep asking.

Heather Bee: Thanks Liz!

Liz Savage: Blaine Fisher Please ask away!! If you get any rude, disrespectful or just plain nasty replies, please report immediately to Admin. We don’t or can’t see everything and can’t take care of an issue if we don’t know about it. People learn from different avenues and they understand answers when they are sometimes worded differently. Please Enjoy the Group!!

Michael Webster: Yup

Heather Bee: Thank you everyone for all the information!

Kelli Youngblood:

GIPHY

Richard Bittner: Yes, but pull the frames and freeze, wax moths will take over.

Diane Toth: No Queen? RIP