Bee Math/Queen Spotting

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Bee Math/Queen Spotting
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Presentations online

• Before you take copious notes, all these
  presentations are online here
• http//www.bushfarms.com/beespresentations.htm

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Bee Math

• All of the numbers about the life cycle of bees
  may seem irrelevant, so let's put them in a chart
  here and talk about what they are useful for.

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Lifecycle chart

• Caste Hatch Cap Emerge
• Queen 3½ days 8 days -1 16 days -1 Laying 28
  days -5
• Worker 3½ days 9 days -1 20 days -1 Foraging
  42 days -7
• Drone 3½ days 10 days -1 24 days -1 Flying
  to DCA 38 days -5

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What does it mean?

• If you find eggs, and no queen how long ago do
  you KNOW there was a queen?

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What does it mean?

• If you find eggs, and no queen how long ago do
  you KNOW there was a queen?
• At least there was one three days ago and likely
  is one now.

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What does it mean?

• If you find just hatched larvae and open brood
  but no eggs when was there a queen?

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What does it mean?

• If you find just hatched larvae and open brood
  but no eggs when was there a queen?
• Four days ago

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What does it mean?

• If you put an excluder between two boxes and come
  back in four days and find eggs in one and not
  the other, what do you know?

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What does it mean?

• If you put an excluder between two boxes and come
  back in four days and find eggs in one and not
  the other, what do you know?
• That the queen is in the one with eggs.

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What does it mean?

• If you find a capped queen cell, how long before
  it should have emerged for sure?

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What does it mean?

• If you find a capped queen cell, how long before
  it should have emerged for sure?
• Nine days, but probably eight.

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What does it mean?

• If you find a capped queen cell, how long before
  you should see eggs from that queen?

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What does it mean?

• If you find a capped queen cell, how long before
  you should see eggs from that queen?
• 20 days.

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What does it mean?

• If you killed or lost a queen, how long before
  you'll have a laying queen again?

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What does it mean?

• If you killed or lost a queen, how long before
  you'll have a laying queen again?
• 24 days

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What does it mean?

• If you killed or lost a queen, how long before
  you'll have a laying queen again?
• 24 days. Why?

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What does it mean?

• If you killed or lost a queen, how long before
  you'll have a laying queen again?
• 24 days. Why? Because the bees will start from a
  just hatched larvae (four days old).

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What does it mean?

• If you start from larvae and graft, how long
  before you need to transfer the larvae to a
  mating nuc?

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What does it mean?

• If you start from larvae and graft, how long
  before you need to transfer the larvae to a
  mating nuc?
• 10 days. (day 14 from the egg)

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What does it mean?

• If you confine the queen to get the larvae how
  long before you graft?

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What does it mean?

• If you confine the queen to get the larvae how
  long before you graft?
• Four days because some won't have hatched at the
  beginning for day three.

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What does it mean?

• If a queen is killed and the bees raise a new one
  how much brood will be left in the hive just
  before the new queen starts to lay?

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What does it mean?

• If a queen is killed and the bees raise a new one
  how much brood will be left in the hive just
  before the new queen starts to lay?
• None. It will take 24 or 25 days for the new
  queen (raised from a four day old) to be laying
  and in 21 days all the workers will have emerged
  and in 24 days all the drones will have emerged.

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What does it mean?

• If the queens starts laying today how long before
  that brood will be foraging for honey?

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What does it mean?

• If the queens starts laying today how long before
  that brood will be foraging for honey?
• 42 days.

42 days.
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What does it mean?

• You can see how knowing how long things take
  helps you predict where things are going or where
  things have been.

42 days.
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Queen Spotting

• First decide, do You Really Need to Find Her?
• Even if you are good, finding queens is time
  consuming.

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Queen Spotting

• Use Minimal Smoke
• First, don't smoke them very much, if at all, or
  the queen will run and there is no telling where
  she will be.

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Queen Spotting

• Look for the Most Bees
• The queen is usually on the frame of the brood
  chamber that has the most bees. This isn't always
  true, but if you start on that frame and work
  your way from there you will find her either on
  that frame or the next 90 of the time.

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Queen Spotting

• Calm Bees
• The bees are calmer near the queen.

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Queen Spotting

• Larger and Longer
• Of course the obvious thing is that the queen is
  larger, and especially that her abdomen is
  longer, but that isn't always easy to see when
  there are bees climbing all over her. Look for
  the larger "shoulders" The width of her back,
  that little bare patch on the thorax. These are
  all larger and often you get a peek at them under
  the other bees. Also the longer abdomen sticking
  out sometimes when you can't see the rest of her.
  

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Queen Spotting

• Don't count on her being marked
• Don't count on your marked queen still being
  there and being marked. Remember they may have
  swarmed and you didn't catch it or they may have
  superseded and she may be gone.

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Queen Spotting

• Bees around the queen act differently
• Look at how the bees act around the queen. Often
  there are several, not all, but several bees
  facing her. The bees around the queen act
  different. If you watch them every time you find
  a queen you'll start noticing how they act, and
  how they move different around her.

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Queen Spotting

• The Queen Moves Differently
• Other bees are either moving quickly or just
  hanging and not moving. The workers move like
  they're listening to Aerosmith. The queen moves
  like she's listening to Schubert or Brahms. She
  moves slowly and gracefully. It's like she's
  waltzing and the workers are doing the bossanova.
  Next time you spot the queen notice how the bees
  in general move, how the bees around her move and
  how she moves.

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Queen Spotting

• Different Coloring
• Usually the queen is slightly different color. I
  have not found this helpful because she's also
  usually close enough in color that she's still
  hard to spot by this.

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Queen Spotting

• Believe There is a Queen
• Mental attitude makes a difference when trying to
  find anything from your car keys to hunting deer
  to finding a queen. As long as you are thinking
  it won't be there you won't find it. You have to
  believe that the keys, or the deer or the queen
  is there. That you are looking right at it and
  you just have to see it. And then suddenly you
  do.

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Can you spot the queen?

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Can you spot the queen?

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Can you spot the queen?

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More Info

• There is more information on all of these and
  many other topics on my web site at
  www.bushfarms.com
• If you dont find the subject on the main menu,
  try Queen Spotting or Beekeeping Math.

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Contact

• Michael Bush
• bees at bushfarms dot com
• www.bushfarms.com
• Book The Practical Beekeeper