Mother Nature treated us to an actual live swarm of bees, with one queen bee hiding in there somewhere, resting on a tree above the apiary. it was a bee-u-t-full – and interesting day -for the 3rd meeting of the Apiary Series at Clark Botanic Garden.
The Queen got distracted by the bees in the trees and forgot to take a group picture in the gazebo but we snagged a picture for the records on the path outside of the gazebo as people were walking away. There were a LOT of people with us in April and I thank you all for coming.
April in the Apiary: what did we do?
It was our 3 month anniversary and we started off with a review of how far we have come already! By this time, you know about the parts of beehive, the difference between the brood chamber and the honey supers, how the bees make beeswax and how (and why) they bring pollen back to the hive.
After the review, things got a little crazy because the Queen was telling a story about “The Hive That Swarmed Right In Front of Her” (see video) when we saw an actual swarm of bees sitting in a tree above the hive! (See below)
Queen bees, swarms, and splits are all related. But that swarm above my head…I’m not sure I explained it all so well. Here are some pointers that may help you understand.
The Queen Bee
There are three types of bees in a hive: worker bees, drones, and a queen bee. There is only one queen bee per hive, no matter how many bees are currently inside it. A healthy queen bee is crucial for the survival of any colony of honeybees.
The queen has two major roles. One is to lay eggs…she can lay up to 1,500 eggs a day. Most bees have a life span of about 3 weeks, but a queen bee can live up to 5 years.
The queen bee also produces unique pheromones, chemical signals that coordinate communication throughout the hive. Known as the “queen signal,” the bees recognize the complex scent of their queen; it helps them know which hive to go home to in an apiary.
The queen signal tells the workers and the drones what needs to be done in a hive. They know to feed and groom the queen so she can continue the important work of growing the hive. The pheromone also indicates the need to build comb, to forage, to guard the hive, and more.
Making A New Queen
The queen signal is very complex. When the hive gets too crowded, the queen sends a signal that it’s time to move. She will swarm away with 1/2 the bees and 1/2 of the stored honey. The worker bees respond by starting the process to make a new queen to stay behind when the hive swarms.
Queen cells resemble peanuts (see photo below) and their existence on the bottom of a frame indicate that a hive is getting ready to swarm away. The hive that is left behind is at-risk because the new queen that emerges from the queen cell must get mated before she can begin to lay eggs and emit her own pheromone.
When the queen bee is sick, or getting too old to make and emit her queen signal, the other bees begin to make queen cells. These are usually in the middle of the frames, and this creation of a new queen bee in the absence of swarming, is called supercedure.
Making a Split Using Queen Bee Cells
Beekeepers can easily split a hive if they move a frame with queen cells to a new hive, and add resources, like frames with drawn-out comb, honey, pollen, and larvae. Remember that every hive needs one queen bee.
April Observations
Our visit to the apiary was only a little warmer than last month (it was 52 degrees in March), but it was much sunnier. I saw people with their notebooks, but not sure if anyone did any drawing yet!
We DID see honey bees flying this month, and we will see even more in May. As we were reviewing all of the changes that have happened since our first meeting in February, we observed a swarm of bees in a tree above the apiary.
We did another quick count of visible bee activity at the hives. If you remember, we have always had 10 hives, but today there were 11. That’s because the Queen Bee made some splits, using queen cells and bees from the stronger hives that survived the winter. We ended up with 11 hives, but they are not all strong yet. Based on our observations today, it seems that 3 out of 11 are not fully active yet. We’ll have to see what happens over the next month.
| TOTAL # HIVES | 11 |
| Presumed dead: hives with no activity, no bees entering in or out | 1 |
| Weather on day of class | 55 degrees F, sunny, dry |
| Number of participants | 28 |
| Plants in Bloom | Daffodils, magnolia, camelia, vinca, |
We still are seeing some dramatic temperature changes which are very hard on the bees, but we expect to see more stable temperatures in the daytime and nightime in May. Bees like the warmer temperatures, and they only go out to forage in temperatures above 55 degrees F.
Thank You Surprises
Fair and square. This month’s surprise was a Backyard Bees Pretty Feet Set – a loofah soap, paired with an overnight foot balm. We don’t recommend wearing sandals to the bee yard, but sandal season is almost here!
Last Word on The Queen Bee
All of the bees start out the same in the hive, but the Queen Bee gets fed a special diet of royal jelly. This special bee product helps the bees ovaries to develop so she can do the work of maintaining the hive population. 1,500 eggs a day is a lot of work and it is all done by the Queen Bee.
Bee In Touch
Our next meeting is on May 30th and it’s almost here already! April and May are very busy time for beekeepers as they make sure all the bees are healthy and happy – June starts to get really fun!
We’ll send you a reminder e-mail and you can message us if you have any outstanding questions. You can also follow Backyard Bees over on our Facebook page or Instagram account.
If you’d like to support the Backyard Bees Apiary, we welcome donations for purchase of supplies. We are specifically working towards an observation hive which costs approximately $300, but our first priority is making sure we have live bees in all the hives – a new colony of bees costs $200, and any little bit helps!
BEE WELL! See you soon for the May Apiary! xoxo The Queen Bee!
