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01/15/2006 Archived Entry: "The not so nice aspects of being a bee keeper"

Today I went into the the bee hive to do an inspection. The results were less than stellar. It is almost certain that there is no queen. For the last three days the pupae have been tossed on the landing. I was hoping they would make new cells ready for eggs. I was hoping they had built a lot of new comb nest also.

Bees don't always do what you think they will. And unhappy bees do even less.

When I opened the hive I saw very little nest building. The last two frames were the only one covered with any bees. Then things got worse. The last two frames were almost completly uncapped. There were no signs of eggs in the cells. After lifting out the last two frames I saw a pile of fly maggots. There were a lot of flies in the box but I didn't think anything of it. I am thinking a lot about it now.

The bee count seems greatly diminished. I am bummed because it looks like the hive will pass away or become a drone hive. I went back to the South Florida Fair.

Well this time at the fair I actually got to meet a hobby beekeeper with a bit of knowledge. We discussed my issue and without a queen the hive is on it's way out. My problem is that most of the people selling queens are up north and don't sell until spring. The one person I tried to contact in Florida was on vacation for a week. Well Leonard the hobby beekeeper I met at the fair has passed along a couple of numbers and some information that may be helpful and Monday I will be trying to get in contact with some people. I will try to get a queen and additional brood nest.

I hope I can remedy this.

You can see the pictures at http://www.understudy.net/images/inspection/index.html