The situation in the Apiary is dire. After my disastrous accidental assassination of the Queen on the 27th March, while transferring bees from the old hive box into the larger new one, I have waited and hoped the bees would correct things by growing their own Queen. Week after week I have checked and seen no signs of a Queen. Some Queen Cells, yes, but only one of them looked successfully opened - and no sign of the resulting Queen.
So I went to my local beekeeper community for help, and they have come through magnificently. On Sunday afternoon, a fellow beekeeper inspecting his colonies found numerous sealed Queen cells in his hives - signs of possible swarms - unwanted swarms. So he carefully carved them out of the surrounding honeycomb and tenderly handed them to me, still sealed.
As if transferring a live beating human heart for a transplant, I tenderly placed them in a box and rushed them to my car, still dressed in my beekeeper suit. With a mentor following in her car close behind I drove - extra-carefully - the 2 miles back home. I phoned ahead to let the folks at home know that "I'll be coming in hot, people, hot! Stand by, everyone!"
I suspect my mentor was completely bemused by my home situation. One gentleman standing by to open the door for us, another barefoot in the kitchen cooking a grand meal for all of us. She must think I keep a harem back home. I won't disabuse her of any such notion :-D
She and I rushed up to my office and pulled out my Sewing Box. I scrabbled around for the dressmakers pins, and together we rushed the boxed Queen Cells down to the Apiary at the bottom of the garden.
Scarcely daring to breathe, I opened up the Big Hive and found a suitable frame. Gently, gently, ever so gently I picked up a Queen Cell, filled to bursting with an about-to-be-born New Virgin Queen, and I pinned it directly to the honeycomb, without bruising, piercing or marking the actual Cell in any way.
We did this with two Cells, to hedge our bets; the third one being deemed to have been slightly damaged and therefore no good anymore (how sad).
Then we closed up the Big Hive, and I promised faithfully not even to peek under the lid for at least three more weeks. Oh, the waiting!
Then I checked the Little Hive next door, and - well, blow me over with a feather - there in the honeycomb were half a dozen larvae! There's a laying Queen in there somewhere, and as soon as the thought popped out, I saw her scrambling over the frame. Not very big, perhaps an Emergency Queen, but a Queen nevertheless.
I am completely and utterly mystified - on two different levels.
1. Where did this Lass come from?
2. Why is She laying so little?
Well, after thanking and saying goodbye to the lady mentor, I sat down with the lads back home for a jovial meal and a lovely evening and then went to bed, turned out the light and let my mind wander over the past few weeks.
An odd thought came to me then, in the dark. Perhaps this Queen came out of that one original successful-looking Queen Cell in the Big Hive. Perhaps She was born, and flew out to mate. And perhaps she came back - into the wrong hive.
After all, Queens don't fly that often; perhaps Her geo-location was a bit off.
And as for the limited laying, I suspect it's because She has so few retainers in that hive. So few worker bees survived the Split in March; perhaps She knows a thing or two and is laying strategically just enough to allow those few retainers to be able to keep up with mothering and housekeeping until the numbers of bees grow bigger.
I can only keep checking and - where possible - helping a little with feed. I can only keep watching as the bees weave their magic; and hope for the best. This wonderful early summer can't be doing them any harm either.
Fingers crossed, everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment