Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner. Группа авторов

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alt="Photo depicts raised drone cells scattered among worker cells, as opposed to groups of drone cells at the edge of the comb, indicate that a queen has gone drone layer."/>

      Queenlessness Colonies

      A colony that loses its queen while there are eggs and young larvae present will generally (weather and predators permitting) successfully requeen itself.

       Field signs for a queenless colony:

       No eggs or young larvae, although there may be other causes for this.

       The sound of a “queenless roar” when smoke is applied across the combs.

       The workers are agitated, exhibit jittery wings, and become defensive.

       The presence of emergency cells.

       Eventually, a “hopelessly queenless” colony will exhibit signs of “laying workers.”

      The lack of eggs and young larvae is not a conclusive sign of queenlessness, since the colony may have simply ceased broodrearing due to dearth, or may have a new queen in progress (typically referred to as a “virgin” until she starts laying eggs). The other signs in the above list are more conclusive.

      Signs of Being in the Process of Self Requeening

      A colony in the process will have either queen cells of some stage present, or a virgin queen. A virgin is difficult for the untrained eye to spot.

       Practical application: if a colony has recently lost its queen, emergency queen cells should be present. One way to test for queenlessness is to insert a frame of eggs and young larvae from another hive; if the colony is indeed queenless, it will start the construction of emergency cells on that frame by the next day.

       Practical application: A colony in the process of requeening itself is generally calm, not jittery, does not “roar” in response to smoke, and prepares the cells in the center of the broodnest for the new queen to lay in, by keeping them polished and free of food stores. If the bees are storing nectar and pollen in the center combs, suspect queenlessness.

      Signs of Being Hopelessly Queenless

       Practical application: A colony that has been truly queenless for more than five days, and which does not have emergency cells in progress, will be unable to requeen itself, and is termed “hopelessly queenless.”

      The typical signs of a hopelessly queenless colony are:

       Lack of cluster formation,

       The “queenless roar” when smoked,

       Jitteriness of the workers' wings,

       Defensive behavior by the workers,

       Frames containing scattered or only drone brood (Figure 5.28),

       Multiple eggs in the cells from laying workers (Figure 5.25).

      How to Tell a Drone‐Layer from a Laying Worker Colony

Photo depicts a brood frame with scattered drone cells. In this case, there were only single eggs in the cells, indicating that it was a case in which the queen had gone drone layer.

       Practical application: A drone‐laying queen and a colony with laying workers both exhibit scattered drone cells. But only in the case of laying workers are there are multiple eggs scattered in the cells.

      Odd Problems

Photo depicts a case of a young queen commencing egg laying without having mated. Photo depicts a solid brood pattern, indicating an excellent queen, and a well-nourished, disease-free colony.

      “Spotty Brood”


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