To the Rescue!

May 17-18, 2011

One queen was then left with few attendants. This one was for the divide in Shakopee. We put her with her attendants in an insect cage, thinking that they would have more room to move around. We had to put the queen in Shakopee on Thursday May 19... a long time to stay in a plastic box.

I decided to give those bees a "little" squirt of sugary water to feed them. I had the best of intentions, and wanted them to feel happy.  A few hours later the poor bees were actually coated with sugar, and could barely move because of the stickiness. Few died almost right away. We were very desperate... we then wet them to remove the excess sugar. But I did not understand why they were not cleaning each other like in a hive. And clearly could not feed the queen...they were busy trying to survive.  I learned later my grave mistake.

Queen Bank at the University of MN

I went to work the next day, and told my frantic story to Judy  a friend and grad student who is working in the entomology department at the U and is a honeybee specialist!  After thinking, she suggested to bring my frail  and  weak queen, and then she would put her in her queen bank so the honeybees could help her regain strength by grooming and feeding her. Far fetch? No Judy was very confident that this could work. Julie my daughter and Stephanie her friend, drove 20 miles with the queen,  delivering her to the U apiary!

One of the University's apiary

Judy smoking the bees

I had never heard of a queen bank before, and learned that  it is a hive where only new queen are kept separately, waiting for a new  hive to be ready for them. This bank is a  hive consisting of one deep box of capped brood, honey and pollen. No one is laying eggs, and every queen is in a queen cage, and the honeybees take care for their favorite queen! 

Metal plate frame: queen bank

The frame with the metal plate is the spot where the queens are placed, and cared for. Amazingly, no fights were seen, and everyone was busy tending a queen.
      

Judy pulling the queen cage frame

The frame has 2 "racks" where the little queens'
cages can fit nicely. Judy wrote my name on my cage, placed it among the other queen cages;  we saw right away that few bees came  flying  on my queen cage. Now I had to have faith in those honeybees, and walk away. There was nothing else I could do, except to give her 24 hours of TLC at the University of Minnesota.

The next day, we had a picnic by the U's apiary. Now it was the moment of truth...Did my queen survive my inexperience? I was very nervous, I did not want to lose her.  Judy kept repeating "Oh, she is going to be fine, she is going to be fine!" We opened the hive and oh miracle my queen was alive and very well. Judy concluded that she must have been dehydrated and hot. Adding that her sugary soaked  attendants could not care for her because they were fighting themselves to stay alive;  the queen must not have drank  or eaten for few hours, and became lethargic, and weak.

I was elated and gave Judy a super big hug! she said: "I did not do anything for your queen ... my honeybees did!"  I don't care what you are saying.... I know that  YOU save my queen and I am very grateful, thank you.  Judy and I  left the University's apiary side by side happy; myself holding  my little insect cage like a precious cargo, delighted to have saved a queen! What a day!