Oh, The Amazing Nature!

Nicolas and Ben getting ready.

We went to our apiaries yesterday...I was hoping that the queen in the "infamous" green Dwelling #2 in Shakopee would be in charge and very proud. Before I opened the hive, we could clearly see that the bees were calmer than previously, few were at the door and others flying around seemingly happy.

Karine and Ben observing!

Then, I opened the hive and started to remove the first few frames; nothing much was going on, but this was expected. Then, I pulled a frame full of honeybees, some wax was present even some pollen. So that was encouraging, finally the bees had done something...they seem to be organized. I lifted another frame, feeling better. I was excited to see eggs...then horror... I saw a lonely cell with 3 eggs. Then I knew we had a failure, a queen Never lays 3 eggs in a single cell...she is meticulous and precise just like a Swiss watch.

Lots of bees. Wax, pollen and eggs!

Then I skipped some frames and looked at the cage, still hanging ... and still occupied by the queen. She was still caged after 8 days! She was attended by few busy bees and therefore did not die of hunger. The candy plug was almost all eaten but not enough for the queen to leave the cage. I opened it myself and she walked gingerly onto the foundation.

Karine releasing the new queen.

Now the key question is this: if she was in the cage then who laid the eggs? Well, here is what probably happened: after losing the original queen and getting a new queen the bees got organized and starting building comb and collecting food. After a few days, the workers sensed that something was odd since the queen was not laying eggs. Therefore a worker bee (or more) became a laying worker(s). Laying workers develop in the absence of a proper queen, whose pheromones usually prevent the development of workers' ovaries. But the real trigger are the pheromones associated with brood recognition. That is why, in few rare cases (like here unfortunately), a worker can start laying eggs in the presence of a true queen. Dr. Spivak said that this phenomenon is rare but can happen!

Now, we have a laying worker or possibly more than one, laying eggs. Those eggs have not been fertilized because the worker did not mate. Those laying workers will only be able to produce males, which won't do much for our colony; except mating with a queen from another hive. So, if you are following this biology lesson :) a colony with laying worker bees is essentially doomed because no workers can be born, consequently no queen can be raised, and no food can be stored.

However, in this gloomy picture there is still a little bit of hope! I released the queen on the foundation. If we are lucky, the queen will take charge, start laying eggs, and the laying workers will go back to their normal activities. However, there is a 70% chance that the queen will be killed by the worker bees because they all think that they already have a queen, and that this new one is an impostor! The next 5 days will be decisive, and by Monday (May 10th.) I will have to inspect the colony carefully, looking for the queen to see if she has been finally accepted. If I locate the queen, we will be back on track. If not, the colony will die slowly.

What is comforting is the fact that we started 3 colonies, and 2 are perfectly happy! The Chanhassen colony is thriving. We saw pollen, wax, eggs, and pearly little "c" shaped larvae. Those are the future generation of honeybees! We could see that they obviously worked hard. Their pollen patty was only a little bit consumed and they seemed to have drank half of their ration of sugar syrup. Spring being ahead this year, seems to be helpful to the bees, as they have lots of choices for their diet, and many species of plants are already in bloom. This colony was calm, quiet and flying gently around without a fuss.

The purple beehive in Shakopee was equally serene. The bees were hovering peacefully around, going about their business. Eggs, larvae, wax, pollen and nectar could be spotted too. The only main difference that I could observed was that they drank and ate more than their Chanhassen compatriots! I have to remind you that this hive is sitting on the side of a field which is not planted yet, so maybe they have less "real" food to eat. But overall, the colony is doing great.

I am looking forward to inspect the green #2 hive in Shakopee next Monday. I wish to find the queen well. I will only add some sugary syrup and half a pollen patty on the 2 other hives. It is fascinating to me to see how nature works, and the effect that it can have on us. I think sometimes we forget, and we should not because we are part of it too.