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Queen bee question #6301047
08/13/18 06:58 PM
08/13/18 06:58 PM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 197
South Dakota
S
SDB Offline OP
trapper
SDB  Offline OP
trapper
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 197
South Dakota
I am going to winter my bees here in SD. How will I know if my queen makes it through winter? If and when my queen dies do I have to purchase a new one or will one be hatched? How does it all work? THANKS

Re: Queen bee question [Re: SDB] #6301064
08/13/18 07:09 PM
08/13/18 07:09 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,928
Oakland, MS
Drifter Offline
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Drifter  Offline
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Oakland, MS
Lot to cover in those questions. If the queen doesn't make the winter the hive will die out usually before you can react. To make a new queen the egg has to be laid within a few days. If you are in fact queenless you would be much farther ahead to buy a queen rather then wait a month for one to hatch and go on the mating flight and hopefully return.


Some individuals use statistics as a drunk man uses lamp-posts — for support rather than for illumination.

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Re: Queen bee question [Re: SDB] #6301148
08/13/18 08:21 PM
08/13/18 08:21 PM
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,177
Albany, NY
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bobsheedy Offline
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Albany, NY

Find out if there's a beekeepers club near you. You'll learn a lot in a hurry.

Re: Queen bee question [Re: SDB] #6301208
08/13/18 09:08 PM
08/13/18 09:08 PM
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 507
Ky
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WHSKR Offline
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 507
Ky
As drifter said if she doesn’t make it through the winter that far north you will probably lose the hive as you have long winters.
Not sure how old the Queen is that you have right now or her origin. Hopefully she is a northern bred queen and young a first year queen. MAKE sure that you have 75-100 pound “two deep hive “ at least going into winter. That means if your hives are light right now and your through the nectar flow “feed”. I don’t like feeding sugar water but if a hive is low on stored honey I will feed them 2:1 sugar to water in the fall before the temperature dips below the 50 degree mark much.
Or better yet I rebalance with hives that have extra honey stored and move it to any light hives. If you take large numbers of bees in a large clusters with young queens that are well supplied with stored honey without large mite loads that’s about all you can do. Weigh or lift the hives to determine its weight and make sure you have a young queen.

Re: Queen bee question [Re: SDB] #6301213
08/13/18 09:11 PM
08/13/18 09:11 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,648
Georgia
warrior Offline
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Posts: 25,648
Georgia
In your area the colony will be broodless through the winter. In order to make a replacement queen the colony needs several things; a worker egg or larvae less than 2.5 days old, young nurse bees capable of producing royal jelly, pollen to fuel the royal jelly production. That's just to produce the queen cell(s). Next required is drones of a suitable age. Since drones take longer from egg to emergence plus add ten days to sexual maturity drone production will be required to start a minimum of two weeks prior to production of queen cells.
BTW, your SD colonies will have killed off the drones well before first frost.
Basically, in your area a dead queen in winter is a dead colony. Fortunately winter is the least stressful period for queens. The colony itself will do everything in its power, including self sacrifice, to ensure her survival. The beekeepers best course going into winter is to ensure the colony has ample resources in both bees and feed to allow them the best chance at survival.


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Re: Queen bee question [Re: SDB] #6301640
08/14/18 11:58 AM
08/14/18 11:58 AM
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,964
South metro, MN
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Calvin Offline
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South metro, MN
Oddly enough there is lots and lots of good bee keeping (along with queen rearing) information on YouTube. Better yet, get YouTube on your TV and watch it there.

Michael Palmer
A Canadian beekeepers blog
B&K bees
Vino farms
Are just a list of a few to search.
More advanced ones at the top.

Re: Queen bee question [Re: warrior] #6301668
08/14/18 12:21 PM
08/14/18 12:21 PM
Joined: Mar 2018
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Pa.
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Bigbrownie Offline
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Pa.
Originally Posted By: warrior
In your area the colony will be broodless through the winter. In order to make a replacement queen the colony needs several things; a worker egg or larvae less than 2.5 days old, young nurse bees capable of producing royal jelly, pollen to fuel the royal jelly production. That's just to produce the queen cell(s). Next required is drones of a suitable age. Since drones take longer from egg to emergence plus add ten days to sexual maturity drone production will be required to start a minimum of two weeks prior to production of queen cells.
BTW, your SD colonies will have killed off the drones well before first frost.
Basically, in your area a dead queen in winter is a dead colony. Fortunately winter is the least stressful period for queens. The colony itself will do everything in its power, including self sacrifice, to ensure her survival. The beekeepers best course going into winter is to ensure the colony has ample resources in both bees and feed to allow them the best chance at survival.
. Good answer for a complex question. I would have wrote 5 pages only to say the same thing.

Re: Queen bee question [Re: SDB] #6301695
08/14/18 01:00 PM
08/14/18 01:00 PM
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,964
South metro, MN
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Calvin Offline
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South metro, MN
And I will Add to Warriors "best chance of survival" during the winter months is a low mite count. About a zero chance up this far north with a load of mites.

Get the mites under control before fall to nil or they will kill your hive this winter. Many of us up here are treating NOW...and again with Oxalic before the cold sets in.

Re: Queen bee question [Re: Calvin] #6301705
08/14/18 01:22 PM
08/14/18 01:22 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,648
Georgia
warrior Offline
trapper
warrior  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,648
Georgia
Originally Posted By: Calvin
And I will Add to Warriors "best chance of survival" during the winter months is a low mite count. About a zero chance up this far north with a load of mites.

Get the mites under control before fall to nil or they will kill your hive this winter. Many of us up here are treating NOW...and again with Oxalic before the cold sets in.


Agreed 110%


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Re: Queen bee question [Re: SDB] #6302134
08/14/18 09:50 PM
08/14/18 09:50 PM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 197
South Dakota
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SDB Offline OP
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SDB  Offline OP
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South Dakota
Great info Thanks again.

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