Lazy Queen !

[darlo]

Hi folks, I have a question about a hive I have with what can only be described as a lazy queen. At the start of the year she was sitting on a frame of brood, and was slow to build up, very slow to be honest and even now is only on three frames of brood.

She is last years queen, and the really confusing thing for me is that the workers have made no attempt to supersede her. They actually seem quite happy with her production rate and not even play cups have been found.

Has anyone experienced this situation before? I don't have the option to swap her yet, but to be honest I'm almost tempted to let her carry on and see how she fairs over the winter.

[Rosie]

Could it be that they struggled through the winter and emerged with a low number of surviving workers? The queen will only lay at a rate that suits the brooding capability of the workforce so once the numbers fall below some critical limit recovery is always painfully slow. The other cause could also be an infection such as nosema.

I usually leave an apparently struggling colony because often they reach their peak just in time for the heather and they have taken no looking after in the meantime.

Steve

[chris]

What I call my selfish colonies- they always make just enough honey for their own needs and never give me a drop. I usually have one or two plodding along. They survive for a few years, and then just dwindle away. I always leave them alone, but then I don't believe in weakening strong colonies in order to just, maybe, help a slow one to become average. Perhaps yours, like Rosie's, will pick up with a good flow.

[Jon]

Is the brood pattern good, ie not full of gaps.

[darlo]

It's true, they were one of the weaker colonies going into the winter, and in all honesty I was surprised they made it through. They did struggle in the early weeks of spring, more so than the others, but even a couple of those didn't look too spectacular compared to now, so i suspect Rosie may well be right, as over the past month the number of brood has increased. As for the pattern of brood, well I would say its fairly normal in shape, just the spread or quantity is lacking. Its not in small patches over the frame, but a good spherical shape in the centre of the frames.

Is it worth an extra feed of syrup or not?

[gavin]

Sounds very like a colony without enough workers which went through a near-death experience. If the colony's problem was not something like a Nosema-infected queen, it could have been Varroa or a number of other things. At three frames of brood it still has a lot of building to do to overwinter well, or possibly even bring in a late crop of Himalayan balsam if you have that in your area.

Yes, best feed it to help it come up to strength.

[darlo]

Thanks All, I will give it some syrup tomorrow. I don't expect it to produce a crop, but if it can get through the winter better this year, maybe I can use it for next year.

[Adam]

If the colony is too small for the hive, putting them in a nuc would help them build up. A 6 frame polystyrene nuc can be good for this. With it's good insulation properties the bees can increase the brood numbers and get up to speed quicker. Once they are bursting in the nuc, they'll be better suited to a full sized hive.

[darlo]

Sounds like a plan. Where can I get the poly nucs?

[gavin]

Paynes.

There are useful tips here from Fatshark and others.

Colonies do seem to winter well in them.

G.