The queen is the main individual of a bee colony. It is not surprising that she is called the mother of almost all bees. She is responsible for the work of the entire bee clan and lays eggs. The queen's life cycle is 4-9 years. However, experienced beekeepers do not recommend keeping one queen for more than 2 years. However, sometimes a situation arises that it does not exist at all. In this case, beekeepers are interested: there is no queen in the hive - what should be done?
Cause of the problem
The following reasons lead to the absence of the uterus in summer:
- was eaten by insectivorous birds during flight;
- was damaged and died during a careless inspection;
- has grown old and does not produce offspring.
The beekeeper himself can destroy the queen. This most often happens when cutting honeycombs carelessly. Also, the queen bee may fall to the ground when removing the comb. If during this period there is no young brood in the hive that is suitable for incubating the queen, the family will become orphaned.
Like any other living creature, a queen bee can die of natural causes due to illness or old age. If the legs are damaged, it may fall to the bottom of the nest and not climb up.
Therefore, the beekeeper needs to constantly monitor his bee colonies. If there is no brood in September, this is considered an alarming signal.
How to determine absence
In large apiaries it is not always possible to open the hive and inspect the colony. The beekeeper must be able to detect the absence of a queen in a closed house.
The main signs of such problems include the following:
- Loss of interest of the bee colony in collecting pollen. If there is no queen in the hive, the bees need less food for brood every day. As a result, they use up old supplies and bring virtually no new pollen. To make sure that flying bees are active, you should literally stand near the hive for a minute. If no pollen foragers are visible during normal summers, this is considered a warning sign. It is recommended that such a family be examined for the presence of a uterus.
- Restless behavior of bees when opening a hive with a queenless colony. They buzz anxiously and take certain poses. Insects can also flap their wings quickly.
- No one-day seeding. If it is identified based on the results of the inspection of the nest, there is no need to worry.This means that there is a queen and she is fulfilling her functions. The absence of one-day seeding may indicate the death of the uterus.
What to do if the queen of a bee family is missing
If it was not possible to visually identify the queen, a control frame with one-day seeding must be installed in the colony. She should be taken from another colony. If after a day the queen bee bowls are stretched, this indicates that there is no queen bee.
This is why it is so important to make sure there is no queen bee.
If the queen cells begin to rebuild, no action should be taken. After 3 weeks, the uterus will begin to function. It is also permissible to place a ready-made queen cell in the family. This contributes to a faster recovery of the bee's nest. If there is a ready-made queen, it is recommended to add her to the bee colony.
The sooner it is possible to identify the absence of the main bee in the hive, establish the causes of the problem and take measures to change the situation for the better, the greater the chance of correcting the bee colony. Otherwise, it will turn into a tinder family. Soon the bees that make up it will die.
