|
HOW TO FIND THE QUEEN IN YOUR COLONY
<br />, 01. Take your time. Finding the queen is like a treasure hunt. Plan on it taking some time.
<br /> 2. Be systematic to avoid a "goose chase." Separate each box of your colony and place each on an
<br /> individual stand (bottom board, inverted telescoping cover, empty box, or a hive stand; Figure 57). This
<br /> way, as you search through one box, the queen can't move into another box, leading you on a wild
<br /> goose chase. Remove the end frame from one box and inspect both sides of the frame carefully for the
<br /> queen. If she is not found, place the frame on end outside of the box (Figure 57). Inspect the second
<br /> frame and if she is not found there either, place it outside the box next to the first frame. Proceed to
<br /> search the remaining frames, one by one, but rather than setting them outside the box when done,
<br /> slide them over to where the first two frames were located. This efficient procedure gives you room to
<br /> remove each frame without damaging the bees and limits your chances of having to inspect the same
<br /> frames twice.An alternative is to move each frame, one by one, into an entirely different brood box.
<br /> This is a particularly good idea if you need to replace or repaint a worn box.Always look for the queen
<br /> on the sides of the box, bottom board, and inner cover.
<br /> 3. Keep a tally and train your eye. Pay attention to the contents of each comb as you search, keeping
<br /> a tally in your mind. Remember the organization of the colony. Generally, the queen will be somewhere
<br /> in the brood nest, often on a comb that has emerging brood and empty cells for her to lay eggs into. If a
<br /> comb is full of honey, sealed brood, or older larvae she may not be there because there are no places
<br /> to lay eggs. But don't count on her following these rules: she has legs and may scurry to the outermost
<br /> frames or hidden corners when the colony is disturbed. Train your eye to look for something different:
<br /> e.g., a difference in the type of movement or pattern of bees on the comb; a small clearing of bees with
<br /> one royal bee proudly walking through it. Let your eyes scan over each comb without trying to focus on
<br /> each and every bee. It's always great to have another set of eyes, so after you scan a frame you can
<br /> hand it to your buddy for another look.
<br /> 0 4. Stop while you're ahead. We have a rule: stop looking after you have searched every frame and
<br /> surface in the colony twice. Carefully reassemble the colony and try again another day. By the third
<br /> search the queen has often moved to a hidden location where she might get accidently smashed. We
<br /> know this from the school of hard knocks.
<br /> 5. There she is! Now what? When you find her, celebrate, but don't take your eyes off of her. Some
<br /> queens prefer to scamper and hide in a dark corner rather than be in the spotlight. At this point you can
<br /> simply admire her, pat yourself on the back, and carefully reassemble the colony. You can mark her with
<br /> a dab of paint, making it a bit easier to see her your next time through. Or remove her if your goal is to
<br /> introduce a new queen. Do not be discouraged if you don't find her. Finding the queen is a hard task.
<br /> The more you practice finding her, the easier she is to spot.
<br /> illk. ,
<br /> Figure 57.To search for the queen, set " .4 ;;
<br /> one box on a different stand and look
<br /> through each box individually.Set the
<br /> �c
<br /> first one or two frames you remove from a ' \ .
<br /> a brood box on their ends outside the
<br /> colony in order to create more room to , , r' '-,:-
<br /> pull out subsequent frames when going „ i
<br /> through the hive, like the frame next to "- .. —t '.
<br /> the left knee of the woman in jeans. - T---'7>.:
<br /> 10 - . „..., , ,.-, . .... _...
<br /> r ( •. , }; ...., . _
<br /> , _ ,
<br /> „,.......
<br /> ..
<br /> � ....pc-,-..„---;-,
<br /> j; /' . ___ .
<br /> , .. - •_.::........_.
<br /> I
<br /> , ••
<br /> Beekeeping in Northern Climates 79
<br />
|