Space & Supering: The queen is rapidly laying, and the hive population is booming. Add empty honey supers or empty deep frames proactively before the brood nest becomes congested, which is the primary trigger for swarming.
Swarm Control: May and June are the busiest months for bee swarms in Colorado. Assume your bees will attempt to swarm and inspect regularly for charged queen cells.
Feeding: Hives use a massive amount of energy expanding comb and raising brood. Keep a feeder with a 1:1 sugar solution on newly established colonies until there is a consistent natural nectar flow.
Weather Fluctuations: Colorado often experiences late spring frosts and big temperature swings. If daytime temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, leave the hives closed.
Mite Treatments: Early spring is an ideal time to assess and treat for Varroa mites before the main honey flow begins.
NOW IS THE TIME TO CHECK YOUR HIVES AND SEE IF YOU NEED TO REPLACE YOUR QUEEN!
Key Signs to Replace Your Queen
Patchy Brood Pattern: A healthy, productive queen lays eggs solidly across a frame. If you see an irregular, scattered pattern of capped brood mixed with empty cells, she may be failing.
Drone-laying Queen: If you see worker cells containing drone brood (which are raised, bullet-shaped cappings) or multiple eggs in a single cell, the queen has run out of sperm or is unfertilized.
Aggressive Hive: If your colony is excessively defensive and difficult to manage, introducing a new queen with calmer genetics can improve the hive’s temperament.
Advanced Age: Queens typically live 2 to 3 years, but their egg-laying and pheromone production noticeably decline after the first or second year.
No Eggs or Larvae: If you observe no eggs, no young larvae, and the bees are building emergency queen cells, the old queen may have died or left the hive.
PCBA Promotes purchasing live bees locally from reputable vendors.
No matter what, you need to know the origin of your bees.
Ask questions about your nucs, packages, and queens!
You need to know if your new queen is a virgin queen or a mated queen? How old is she?