Beehive trouble

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
My Beehive is really struggling since I installed the package 5 weeks ago. Are there any experienced beekeepers on here near Summerfield?

Thanks!
 

SharpShooter

Ten Pointer
Is the hive queenwright? Eggs and larvae and pupae present?how many frames have they drawn out? Where did you get the package from?
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Is the hive queenwright? Eggs and larvae and pupae present?how many frames have they drawn out? Where did you get the package from?
Got the package from Beez Needz. They’ve drawn out almost 4 frames. There is probably 1/3 or less than the original amount of bees. I have a top feeder.
 

Loganwayne

Ten Pointer
with a package your always going to see the hive shrink up a bit then grow due to the brake in the brood. but if you dont have any eggs or larvae looks like you might have a dud queen. at 5 weeks id expect some of the bees in the package are at the end of their life cycle.

How often are you refilling the top feeder?
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
with a package your always going to see the hive shrink up a bit then grow due to the brake in the brood. but if you dont have any eggs or larvae looks like you might have a dud queen. at 5 weeks id expect some of the bees in the package are at the end of their life cycle.

How often are you refilling the top feeder?
There are eggs and larvae and packed cells but I have not been able to find since they released her. The numbers in the hive have been steadily shrinking. I read that a queenless hive can sometimes produce offspring but all of the young would be males and contribute nothing to the hive.

They don't seem to eat much from the top feeder either. They are still drawing out the last of the 4 frames.

I am not sure what I should do.
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Sounds like you may have someone close or where they are foraging spraying pesticides.
I've got a neighborhood across the highway that they may be hitting and getting some pesticides. I have no immediate neighbors that use it during the day.
 

Loganwayne

Ten Pointer
There are eggs and larvae and packed cells but I have not been able to find since they released her. The numbers in the hive have been steadily shrinking. I read that a queenless hive can sometimes produce offspring but all of the young would be males and contribute nothing to the hive.

They don't seem to eat much from the top feeder either. They are still drawing out the last of the 4 frames.

I am not sure what I should do.
look and see if you can see eggs. if they are on the bottom of the cell there is a queen. i dont look for any of my queens as long as they are laying eggs i know she is there.

if you have a decent flow going they wont take sugar water. best thing to do is find someone local second best would be to open it up and take some pictures of your hive and frames
 

Southern

Ten Pointer
If you have eggs and larvae, dont do anything but feed them. Unfortunately there is no way of knowing about the pesticides. If you don't have something else going on like mites, etc just hang on
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I
read that a queenless hive can sometimes produce offspring but all of the young would be males and contribute nothing to the hive.

Drone cells will look very different than typical worker brood cells, you can cut them out if they are obvious but if the eggs are centered up in the bottom of the regular brood cells you have an active queen. Her abdomen is long enough to deposit eggs to the bottom of the cells.
A weak queen or damaged queen will be replaced and the workers will start building queen-cells pretty quickly. If you can catch that you can save yourself from a swarm, something that happens a lot to hives with problems. Especially if they have plenty of food and are a strong but small colony.
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
This is from tonight...
 

Attachments

  • AC827A53-450C-4AD6-9F7D-735F786B8F70.jpeg
    AC827A53-450C-4AD6-9F7D-735F786B8F70.jpeg
    293.4 KB · Views: 71
  • AD076B72-99F2-4952-9A12-14E28D52734A.jpeg
    AD076B72-99F2-4952-9A12-14E28D52734A.jpeg
    235.3 KB · Views: 71
  • B3A74B9C-18E0-453B-9951-8ACDBC5415D2.jpeg
    B3A74B9C-18E0-453B-9951-8ACDBC5415D2.jpeg
    235.3 KB · Views: 69

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Discovered neighbor hired Mosquito Joes for mosquito control. They sprayed their whole yard with pyrethrin. That probably did them in.
 

dbcrowbar

Six Pointer
if u list your hives with the county u may some legal grounds there, especially if they are visiable from the street. they are supposed to let u know their going to spray. between the mites and all this spraying we don't stand much of a chance
 
Top