The way to Requeen a Beehive
2 min read
The way to requeen a beehive when the present queen dies or turns into unproductive to take care of the viability of the colony.
A lot of you realize through my social media channels that I obtained a beehive and beekeeper coaching classes as a Christmas current final 12 months.
Right here is the web site of my superior and extremely educated beekeeper, if getting a beehive at your own home is a objective otherwise you wish to give one as a present.
It was the very best Christmas current ever!
After getting educated, I used to be prepared for my very personal beehive, which was delivered to my house in mid-March 2022.
Why this time of 12 months?
As a result of the climate is just not too sizzling and never too chilly. In different phrases, for the place I dwell, it’s a excellent time of 12 months to transition a hive of bees to a brand new house.
The way to “Requeen” a Bee Hive
Sadly, the Queen in my new hive has turned out to be lower than splendid.
Over the following weeks, my beekeeper and I seen throughout our common hive checks that she was not laying in a wholesome sample.
Almost definitely, Aurora had been injured and was unable to proceed her queenly duties.
When this happens, it turns into crucial to “requeen” the hive as quickly as attainable.
Since there have been a number of queen larvae cells within the hive already (indicating that the employee bees knew they wanted a brand new queen!), we initially determined to let one in all them hatch as the very best technique.
Hatch or Purchase a New Queen?
The subsequent week after retiring Aurora, I seen that essentially the most mature queen cell had certainly hatched!
Sadly, this just lately hatched queen wasn’t wherever to be seen within the hive. I rigorously examined every body twice to make sure I hadn’t missed her!
The most certainly rationalization is that she was on one in all her (as much as) three mating flights. 🐝
Sadly, my beekeeper and I had been unable to seek out her the following week both.
The chance emerged that she had been unable to make it again to the hive as a result of hailstorms our space had skilled that week.
For the reason that hive had now been with no laying queen for two weeks, my beekeeper advised requeening the hive with a bought queen as a substitute.
Under is the video of latest queen “Scarlett” after she arrived and was about to be inserted into my hive.
What an incredible and complex course of!
