Text Transcript with Description of Visuals
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| [Music] Welcome to video four in module two of ABEJAS. | ABEJAS Logo in front of a honey bee queen surrounded by worker bees Title: Module 2.4 Assessing a colony’s queen status |
| This video will go over how to assess a colony’s queen status. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera |
| The queen bee is essential for maintaining the colony’s population, organization, and overall health. | A queen honey bee with a green dot of paint on her back |
| Her role extends beyond reproduction, including chemical signaling, colony coordination, and influencing the colony’s stability and productivity. Without a healthy queen a honey bee colony struggles to survive. | Honey bees crawling on hive frame with queen bee, red circle appears around queen |
| A colony with a queen that is performing her egg laying job correctly is commonly referred to as queenright. A colony that is queenless or has a failing queen will have decreased brood production compared to a colony that is queenright. Lower numbers of new bees can lead to poor colony health and eventually a collapsed colony. | A honey bee queen laying an egg in a hexagonal cell surrounded by worker attendants. Text on screen: This queen is laying an egg |
| To diagnose common queen problems, look for these five warning signs: absence of eggs, change in colony behavior, poor brood pattern, abundance of drones, with or without multiple eggs in a cell, and queen cells. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera Bulleted list appears and speaker reads off topics listed |
| The first warning sign we will talk about is the absence of eggs. | A honey bee queen crawling on frame surrounded by worker attendants. Text on screen: Absence of eggs |
| Spotting the queen herself is an indicator of a queenright colony. However, finding the queen can be challenging and is often not necessary. To determine if a honeybee colony is queenright without seeing the queen, look for eggs. | Whole honey bee frame with workers crawling, a red circle appears around queen bee |
| Eggs are a sign the queen is in the colony and laying. Be sure to look for eggs on multiple frames. The absence of eggs either means the queen is not there or that it is a time of year when she is not laying, like winter. | Eggs inside honey bee cells. Whole honey bee frame with workers crawling, a red circle appears cluster of cells containing eggs Text on screen: Look for eggs |
| Also, look for the presence of all brood stages. | Hive frame containing eggs, larvae, and capped brood cells with honey bees crawling around. Text on screen: Look for presence of all brood stages |
| A queenright colony will have a steady supply of eggs and developing larvae in various stages. The absence of any stage of brood can indicate a current or past problem. | Close up view of larvae and eggs inside hexagonal cells. Two red circles appear around eggs, three grey circles appear around larvae. Text on screen in red: Eggs. Text on screen in grey: Larvae in different stages of growth |
| If there are no eggs but you do find other stages of brood, the youngest stage present can help you count backward to estimate the last time there is a laying queen in the colony. Colonies with no brood in the colony may be in the process of raising a new mated queen. | Close up view of young and old larvae inside hexagonal cells. Two red circles appear around younger larvae, two grey circles appear around older larvae. Text on screen in red: 3 days after the egg was laid. Text on screen in grey: 8 days after the egg was laid |
| The second warning sign is a behavioral change in the colony. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Text on screen: Behavioral change in the colony |
| Bees might become more defensive, disorganized, restless, or flighty if the colony is queenless. | Honey bees crawling around at hive entrance. Text on screen: This colony appears to be calm and well-organized |
| You might also observe a louder buzzing sound when queenless hives are opened. Without a queen, the colony may struggle with organization in performing their housekeeping tasks effectively. | Beekeeper inspecting a hive frame while hive is open, bees flying. Text on screen: Take note of any behavioral changes in a colony |
| The third warning sign is a poor brood pattern. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Text on screen: A poor brood pattern |
| A healthy brood pattern is consistent and well-organized, with brood of similar ages grouped together. For example, eggs and young larvae in a central area surrounded by older brood. | Honey bees crawling on hive frame, frames are full of capped brood and larvae clustered. Text on screen: Good brood patterns |
| A brood pattern with lots of blank cells scattered around the frame is referred to as a spotty or poor brood pattern. A poor pattern may signal queen failure, as the queen may not be laying as many eggs as a healthy queen, or something else may be wrong with her. However, keep in mind that a poor pattern may instead signal that something else is wrong in the colony, like a brood disease, poor nutrition or pesticide contamination. | Honey bees crawling on hive frame, cells have small sporadic clusters of capped brood and many open cells. Text on screen: A poor, irregular brood pattern |
| [Music] | Whole hive frame, cells have small sporadic clusters of capped brood and many open cells. Text on screen: This poor brood pattern is in a colony that is failing from Varroa and disease |
| The fourth warning sign is an abundance of drones with or without multiple eggs in a cell. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Text on screen: An abundance of drones with or without multiple eggs in one cell |
| Healthy colonies raise drones in the spring and summer, but too many drones can signal a problem. | Beekeeper separating hive frames with a hive tool, then lifting out frame |
| A beekeeper may first identify the problem by noticing a large population of adult drones. | Many male (drone) bees crawling on hive frame. Text on screen: A large population of adult drones |
| However, the real issue is when a colony raises the bulbous, wax covered drone brood in worker sized cells. The large adult drone population is a result of the colony raising lots of drones. Drone brood in worker sized cells means one of two scenarios: One scenario is the queen laying on fertilized eggs that develop into drones. | Bulbous capped drone cells on honey bee frame sporadically distributed amongst regular flat worker cells. Text on screen: This bulbous drone brood is a result of drone eggs being laid in worker-sized cells |
| Here the queen is called a drone layer. As a reminder, fertilized eggs become female workers and unfertilized eggs become drones. A drone laying queen ran out of live sperm to fertilize the eggs, resulting in only drone offspring. | Close up of a plump white larvae laid in a hexagonal cell. Newly emerging drone coming out of cell. A honey bee queen crawling on frame surrounded by worker attendants. Text on screen: A “drone-layer” is a queen that has run out of viable sperm |
| The second scenario is when a colony is queenless for so long that some of the worker bees’ ovaries develop and they lay eggs in cells. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera |
| These workers cannot mate, so they cannot lay fertilized eggs that develop into worker bees, but they can lay unfertilized eggs that develop into drones. This is called laying workers. | Person puffing smoke onto honey bee colony. Worker bee with abdomen inside hexagonal cell. [Credited image: Dr. Zachary Huang] Text on screen: A worker bee laying an unfertilized egg. |
| Differentiate between a drone laying queen and laying workers by looking at the eggs. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Text on screen: Laying workers |
| A drone laying queen will still lay one egg at the bottom of each cell. | Profile view of egg laid inside wax cell. Diagram of life cycle of honey bees showing queen laying an egg |
| Laying worker bees often lay multiple eggs in one cell and place eggs in unusual places in cells. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Image of hexagonal cells with 2-5 eggs per cell appears. [Credited image: Rob Snyder] Text on screen: Multiple eggs in unusual places in cells. |
| Worker abdomens are shorter than a queens abdomen, so they may lay eggs on the side wall of the cells, rather than on the bottom middle of the cell. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Image of queen versus worker bee appears. Red lines along abdomens emphasize difference in length of abdomens |
| Some worker laid eggs can look like queen eggs. One egg in the bottom middle of the cell. | Image of hexagonal cells with 2-5 eggs per cell appears. [Credited image: Dr. Zachary Huang] Text on screen: Laying worker eggs |
| Look at multiple cells when investigating the problem. | Beekeeper inspecting hive frame |
| Note that brand new queens may lay more than one egg in a single cell. This is normal behavior which will correct itself over time. | Hexagonal cells with 1-2 eggs per cell appears. Text on screen: The multiple eggs seen here have likely been laid by a new queen |
| The fifth warning sign is the presence of queen cells. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Beekeeper inspecting hive frame, red circle appears around a queen cell. Queen cells in middle of hive frame. Text on screen: Queen cells |
| A colony can raise a new queen when needed to help ensure continued colony function. The presence of queen cells indicates a current or future queen problem. Honey bees raise new queens in three scenarios: an emergency when the queen is suddenly killed like accidentally by the beekeeper, when the colony is preparing to swarm, and to replace a failing queen. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera Bulleted list appears and speaker reads off topics listed |
| The colony may not have a laying queen in the colony for a period of time, as they work to replace the old queen. | Queen cells in middle and bottom of hive frame. Text on screen: Queen cells |
| In an emergency when the queen suddenly dies worker bees can try to raise a new queen from existing young larvae. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Image of two queen cups on frame appear. Text on screen: Emergency queen cells |
| Queen cells raised in an emergency may be found anywhere in the brood nest where there were young larvae present at the time the queen died. | Two queen cells in early stages of being built, larva is inside one of them. Beekeeper pointing to queen cells with hive tool. Text on screen: Emergency queen cells |
| Good beekeeping practices that avoid rolling and killing bees can reduce the chances of this happening. Start an inspection by gently removing an outer frame first then moving inward. This allows for more space when pulling out brood frames, where the queen is more likely to be present. Take care not to roll bees each time you remove and replace a frame. [Music] | Beekeeper lifting feeder out of hive, using hive tool to separate frames in hive, then lifting frame out. Text on screen: Use good beekeeping practices to avoid “rolling” and killing the queen |
| Swarming primarily occurs in spring, when floral nectar and pollen sources are abundant and colony populations quickly grow. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera |
| During this time, crowded hives with lots of incoming food get into the mood to swarm. The old queen will leave with roughly half the bees in the swarm to go start a new home. | A honey bee swarm in a tree, a red circle appears around queen in swarm. Text on screen: A honey bee swarm Zooms in closer to swarm, red circle appears around queen. Text on screen: The queen in a swarm |
| The old queen bee stops laying eggs about a day prior to swarming to shrink her abdomen, allowing her to fly with the swarm. The bees remaining in the hive get a new queen. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Image of two queen cups on bottom of frame appear. Text on screen: Swarm cells |
| A colony about to swarm typically raises many queen cells on the edges of the brood nest. Once the queen cells are capped, the colony likely already swarmed. The third case in which a colony raises queen cells is when a colony replaces a failing queen. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera |
| A queen may fail due to running out of viable stored sperm, disease, or other reasons. This process is known as supersedure and helps ensure colony survival. The worker bees raise queen cells typically when the old queen is still in the colony. | Queen cells built in middle of hive frame. White arrow appears to point at queen cell. Text on screen: Supersedure queen cells |
| Compared to the swarming situation, there are usually fewer queen cells and the colony population is smaller. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera. Image of one queen cups in middle of frame appear. Text on screen: Supersedure queen cells |
| In any of these three situations there is a risk the colony will not end up with a mated queen. | Honey bee queen crawling on frame, surrounded by worker bees |
| If the new queen dies or fails to mate, the colony will end up queenless. It will need beekeeper intervention for the colony to survive. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera |
| [Music] | Honey bee queen crawling inside small wooden cage |
| As a beekeeper, it is possible to introduce a new queen to a colony to fix a queenless colony. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera |
| Typically, beekeepers introduce either a mated queen or queen cell. If a colony is actively raising queen cells you may instead allow the colony to raise its own queen. | Beekeeper putting queen caged in a wooden box into a colony |
| As the name suggests, mated queens have already mated and are ready to lay eggs once accepted by the colony. | Three queen cage types next to each other on a hive lid. Text on screen: Screened queen cages |
| Mated queens are introduced in screen cages, which allows the bees to become accustomed to the queens pheromones and for her to acquire the hive smell. | Hive tool is used to point to the bottom of a cage the queen is in, a white candy plug is in the hole in the bottom of the cage. Text on screen: Queen “candy” that the bees chew through, releasing the queen from her cage |
| This slow introduction reduces the chances of rejection. | A queen cage being put inside hive in between two frames |
| A new queen, introduced as a queen cell needs to reemerge from her cell, reach sexual maturity, mate, and then return to the colony before she starts laying eggs. | Beekeeper holding a queen cell. Text on screen: A queen cell |
| Generally, it is best to introduce queen cells when weather is consistently warm and sunny for a successful mating flight. | A queen cell being put inside hive in between two frames. Text on screen: Introduce queen cells when the forecast is warm and sunny |
| Before introducing a new queen to a colony double check to ensure your colony is truly queenless. | Beekeeper inspecting hive frame. Text on screen: Make sure your colony is truly queenless before re-queening |
| Look for evidence that the colony has a virgin, like an emerged queen cell. A colony will not accept a new queen if they raise their own. | Person pointing to queen cells that have been chewed |
| If you confirm the colony is queenless, you can introduce a new queen. | Queen crawling on hive frame surrounded by worker bees. Text on screen: This is a virgin queen |
| Destroy any queen cells before introduction. | Hive tool is used to scrape away queen cells from frame. Text on screen: Destroy any queen cells before introducing a new queen |
| After introducing a new queen, monitor the colony to see if the bees accepted her and if she is laying eggs. | Beekeeper inspecting both sides of a hive frame. Text on screen: Monitor the colony to make sure the bees accept the new queen and she is laying eggs |
| A colony is more likely to be receptive to a new queen if they are smaller and population, full of younger worker bees, and well-fed. Another tip to maintain hive strength and increase queen acceptance is to add a frame of brood or two from another queenright colony in the apiary. | Beekeeper lifting frame out of hive, inspecting both sides, then placing frame in another hive |
| Utilize what you have learned from the previous video to ensure that your colonies are well-fed during queening. | Bees drinking sugar syrup. Text on screen: Make sure your colonies are well fed during re-queening |
| Since queen failure can result in a colony being unproductive or lead to death, beekeepers often replace queens that appear to be underperforming to fix problems, or to avoid future problems. | Bee crawling on white flower in field |
| When deciding if a queen is underperforming or failing, consider the age of the queen, how the brood pattern looks, if the colony is growing slower compared to others surrounding colonies, or if you see physical damage to the queen. | Person holding honey bee queen and using red marker to add a dot to her thorax. Text on screen: Marking queens with queen-safe paint can help the beekeeper easily identify the queen and her age |
| These signs are often attributed to the queen’s performance. However, it can be difficult to tease apart colony health due to the queen or environment. The queen may be blamed when the issue is due to the colony conditions or environment instead. Take a good look in the colony to find clues on the source of the problem. [Music] | Queen crawling on hive frame surrounded by worker bees |
| This module covered equipment and tools you will use during beekeeping how to keep bees safely, how to recognize nutritional needs, and how to assess the queen status. The next module will cover pests, parasites and pathogens. | Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera ABEJAS logo, list of two upcoming videos, and @wsubeeprogram YouTube Logo appears |
| [Music] | Queen crawling on hive frame surrounded by worker bees Overlay of WSU Bee Program, Washington State University, Wonderstone Films, United States Department of Agriculture, Project Apis m, Miller Honey Farms, and University of Minnesota Extension logos appear Scrolling list of people involved in development of videos appears |
| If you’ve enjoyed this video, please subscribe to the channel and leave us a comment below to let us know what additional topics you would like us to cover in future videos. | A beekeeper closing a clapperboard that says “WSU ABEJAS English” Beekeeper in an apiary talking to camera |