Why My Bees Died Over Winter?
As a beekeeper, there's nothing more heart-breaking than losing a colony, especially during the harsh winter months. In this blog post, I'm going to dive deep into one of the most frustrating scenarios a beekeeper can face: a colony dying due to a drone-laying queen.
Why Did My Bees Die Over Winter? In my recent YouTube video, I shared the autopsy of a failed colony, and the cause was clear – a drone-laying queen. This is a common issue that can go unnoticed for weeks or even months, ultimately leading to the demise of the entire colony. By understanding what a drone-laying queen is, how it happens, and the warning signs to look for, beekeepers can take proactive steps to prevent this situation from occurring in their own apiaries.
What is a Drone-Laying Queen?
A drone-laying queen is a queen bee whose ability to lay fertilised eggs has diminished, often due to age, poor mating, or physical damage. Instead of laying the essential fertilised worker eggs, she lays only unfertilised eggs, which hatch into drones – the male bees that don't contribute to the critical tasks of the hive, such as gathering nectar, nursing brood, or defending the colony.
Without a steady supply of worker bees to sustain the hive, a colony with a drone-laying queen cannot survive long-term, especially during the winter when resources are scarce and maintaining the cluster is crucial for survival. Drone-laying queens can go unnoticed for weeks or months, especially during the busy summer when the hive still appears active. By the time you realise what's happened, it might already be too late to save the colony.
Why Did My Bees Die Over Winter?
Syrup left in the feeder: Bees typically consume all the syrup provided in the fall to prepare for winter, but this colony had left it untouched, indicating something was amiss.
A small, dwindling cluster: The remaining cluster of bees was tiny, only about the size of a fist, with no more than 100 bees. This is a clear sign of a failing colony.
Presence of drone brood: The frames showed spotty drone brood, further confirming the issue with the queen.
Based on these observations, it was clear that this colony had succumbed to a drone-laying queen, which is a death sentence for a hive during the winter months. Without a healthy, egg-laying queen to maintain the population of essential worker bees, the colony simply couldn't survive the harsh conditions and lack of resources.
How Does a Drone-Laying Queen Happen?
There are a few common reasons why a queen bee can become a drone-layer:
Age: As queens age, their ability to lay fertilised eggs can diminish. This is why it's important to regularly replace older queens in your apiary.
Poor mating: If a queen doesn't mate successfully with enough drones, she may not have the sperm necessary to fertilise all her eggs, leading to drone-laying behaviour.
Physical damage: Queens can sometimes sustain physical damage, either through injury or disease, that impairs their egg-laying abilities.
Regardless of the underlying cause, a drone-laying queen is a serious issue that beekeepers must address quickly. Without a healthy, egg-laying queen, the colony's population will rapidly decline, leaving it vulnerable to starvation, disease, and other threats, especially during the winter months.
Preventing and Addressing Drone-Laying Queens
As a beekeeper, there are several steps you can take to prevent and address the issue of drone-laying queens in your apiary:
Routine Queen Checks
One of the most important things you can do is to regularly inspect your colonies and check the health and activity of the queen. This should be a routine part of your beekeeping management practices, especially during the critical times of year, such as before and after winter.
When inspecting your frames, look for signs of a healthy, egg-laying queen, such as a solid pattern of worker brood, the presence of the queen herself, and the absence of drone brood. If you notice any concerning signs, such as a dwindling population or an unusual amount of drone brood, it's time to investigate further and take action.
Regularly checking your queens can help you catch issues like drone-laying early, before they have a chance to spiral out of control and lead to the loss of an entire colony.
Ensuring High-Quality Queens
Another crucial step in preventing drone-laying queens is to ensure that you're introducing high-quality, well-mated queens into your colonies. This means sourcing your queens from reputable breeders who prioritise genetic diversity, disease resistance, and other desirable traits.
If you're raising your own queens, be sure to follow best practices for queen rearing and mating, such as using strong, healthy colonies as donors, providing adequate nutrition for the developing queens, and allowing for successful mating flights.
By starting with high-quality queens, you can reduce the risk of issues like drone-laying down the line. And if you do encounter a drone-laying queen, you'll be better equipped to address the problem quickly and effectively.
Replacing Failing Queens
Even with the best preventative measures, sometimes queens can still fail or become drone-layers. When this happens, it's crucial to replace the failing queen as soon as possible to prevent the colony from collapsing.
If you suspect a drone-laying queen, don't wait – take action. You can either introduce a new, mated queen or allow the colony to raise their own replacement queen. Either way, the sooner you can get a healthy, egg-laying queen back in the hive, the better the chances of the colony's survival.
Remember, it's always better to be proactive and replace a failing queen before the colony reaches the point of no return. This is especially true during the critical winter months when resources are scarce and the colony's survival is on the line.
Losing a colony is never easy, but it's an unfortunate reality that all beekeepers must face at some point. In the case of my recent dead-out, the drone-laying queen issue was a tough lesson, but one that has made me a better beekeeper.
Happy beekeeping, and here's to a successful season ahead!
At Black Mountain Honey, we pride ourselves on the wide range of mated queens we have for sale. If you need top quality mated queen bees, check out our website: https://www.blackmountainhoney.co.uk/buy-queen-bees
