"We occasionally read in books on bees, or works on natural history, that the queen in her lifetime lays about 60,000 eggs. Such a statement is simply ridiculous; 600,000 to 1,000,000 would be somewhat nearer the truth; for most queens, in spacious hives and in a favourable season, lay 60,000 eggs in a month. The queen, as a rule, commences laying eggs in February, and continues until September, though not always at the same rate. An especially fertile queen in the four years, which on an average she lives, may thus lay over 1,000,000 eggs. The Author once had a queen fully five years old, which was still remarkably vigorous, and might have lived for another year or two if she had not been destroyed. It is, therefore, quite credible that the age of the queen occasionally extends to seven years, as we are assured by some bee-keepers who have made this observation; yet when we are told that in exceptional cases queens have continued alive for eleven to twelve years, the assertion probably rests on a delusion, or such a case is as rare as that of a man attaining the age of one hundred years or more. There is certainly a great difference among queens as regards fertility; the best mothers are those that lay a great number of eggs and deposit them in the cells regularly, neither laying two eggs in one cell nor missing a cell. With such a queen in the hive the brood is nicely arranged, and much of it hatches simultaneously, thus making it easy for the queen to repeat the operation of depositing eggs when the cells have been emptied. When such is the case the stock will be thriving, its well-being depending chiefly on the queen, who, as it were, is the soul of the hive."--Jan Dzierzon, Rational Bee-Keeping, 1882 English edition, Pg 18
I saw this frenzy going on and turned the cover over to block the entrance. They were doing this same thing before I blocked it. They would pile up until they would fall in clumps. I slowed it down to try to see it better.
I have fallen behind on posting. I work 40 hours a week and then try to keep up with bees, so I've fallen behind on my posts most everywhere including here. I'm feeling my age. For the first time I find myself thinking that 8 frame medium boxes full of honey are too heavy. And the 8 and 9 frame "queen castle" mating nucs are also getting too heavy. You would think this constant increase in the pull of gravity would have people concerned...
Last year I had an apprentice, which helped a lot on getting bee work done. We raised a lot of batches of queens, but did not have very good returns. Some of that is probably weather, some is probably predators (dragonflies etc.). Some of it, I think is that the dividers on my mating nucs are deteriorating and queens are getting killed by the neighbors. The corners at the top are getting chewed out. I hope to get enough help, between apprentices and Bee Camp, to build some separate 3 medium frame mating nucs. We will see. It's that or ...
https://bushfarms.com/beescamp.htm
Bee Camp dates: 22-26 May 2025 (arriving 21 May leaving 27 May)
(Work week will be 17-21 May 2025 arriving May 16))
Location: Nehawka, Nebraska 68413(45 miles south of Omaha Eppley Airport)
Cost: $1,000 ($100 non-refundable deposit. $900 on arrival) or if you do work week, just the $100 deposit.
Accommodations: meals and camping in a tipi provided. I highly recommend staying in the camp. If you don't you will miss a lot of the camaraderie, but Hotel or Glamping (glamour camping) are available in the area at the cost of the camper and the camper is responsible for arrangements.
Weather permitting we will be doing bee things for at least 4 hours a day, usually more like 12 and other activities the rest of the day.
I guess this is a clear sign I don't post here enough. You can still see my last post on last year's camp. Last year was another great year. A lot of fun, a lot of camaraderie and a lot of new friends. Here's my...
New member looking to meet local natural beekeepers: anyone in/near Central Massachusetts?
I just got started with a langstroth hive this summer, planning to build a top bar hive and swarm traps for the spring. I am a decent carpenter; would be fun to collaborate and build some hives together with others in the area.
