Part 2: Failed Queen Leading To Wax Moth
The answer to Part 1 was “no”: it was a swarm from someone else’s hives.
Lockdown beekeeping: what’s happened since I last wrote?
- The new, mated Queen I bought and introduced was killed
- At the time, I assumed either (A) they just didn’t like her; (B ) poor beekeeping or (C) there was a virgin Queen in the hive at the time
- A few weeks later I started to then find drone comb in the colony (but no cells with lots of eggs in, i.e. no laying workers)
- That must have meant when I killed the old Queen in April, a Virgin Queen was in the hive (is this even possible?)
- I concluded the Virgin Queen never mated and she became a drone laying Queen
- With a dwindling colony and no other solutions I hoped that perhaps somehow she would lay some workers or a new queen
- Wax moth got in and destroyed all the comb
All of the above presented some good lockdown biology lessons for my daughter and some awareness of the “birds and the bees”, but not great beekeeping lessons!
Wax Moth Photos
I was a big fan of Vita’s B401 and when its successor B402 is released in the UK next year I’ll be stocking up after 2 years of wax moth infestations. It’s already available in the USA. Please note Vita are an important beekeeping supplier and a sponsor of this blog.
The first time you experience wax moth destruction, it’s really distressing.
The Future
I am down to zero colonies. A winter without any bees!
Catching a swarm next April/May will be my priority. A hive in the field and a nuc box at the front of our house both with swarm attractant will hopefully do the job. We’ll see. But I’m hopeful.
Stay safe, lots of love and see you next year!
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Hi Roger
I have followed your site since it began as you and I started beekeeping at the same time. Our learning curve has been similar but yours seems to be rather more logical than mine.
Going through the winter without bees has its benefits;I have certainly done it, but it does rob you of that wonderful moment in March/April when you discover that YES! They made it!
Since I started with small children around my feet and bees in the bottom of the garden I have moved my bees to the corner of a field and life has become rather less fraught. The bees continue to at turns fill me with joy and mystify me. Sometimes enthused, sometimes going through the motions, it remains compelling. Next year I am providing wedding favours for my daughters celebrations in the form of jars of honey that my daughter and I have harvested, beautifully packaged and presented.What a place to have come from not knowing which end of the frame was up. I hope you have a healthy winter and the spring brings you a massive early swarm…just not from one of my hives.