the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few
Spock said as he was dying, “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Captain Kirk responded, “Or the one.”
Maleficent post mortem
On Thursday October 5, 2023, there was little wind and sunshine at the time of inspection. The temperature high was 67 degrees Fahrenheit. I executed a queen that day, to save her subjects. I have spent many weeks worrying about my little hive. It just never took off, dealing with a swarm and rainy weather, and queen lessness and then, my new queen (Maleficent)spent weeks not laying because of a mite treatment. Every inspection I did I feared she (the hive) wasn’t going to have time to get herself sorted.
This colony has a queen, but not enough bees, not enough honey, no brood (eggs, larva, or capped brood), and all of the frames were not drawn out with comb. Many frames that had beautiful drawn comb were empty. At this time of year, going into colder weather with little available for foraging this colony is doomed.
This last inspection showed that time was up. They were eating what little honey stores they had and had stopped drawing comb in her second box. If I left them to it, they would freeze or starve this winter. I feel like I had no other choice. I caught the queen in a clip and put her in a sealed container away from the colony. I needed the colony to start to accept that they had no queen, and if she was still nearby, they could smell her pheromones and would try to protect her or go to her.
I shook the few bees that were hanging out in the top box into the bottom box. I remove the honey super I had placed several weeks ago from Amidala’s hive and shook all the bees into her lower boxes. I placed two sheets of newspaper over Amidala’s top box and placed Maleficent’s bees over the newspaper. Then I replaced the inner cover and outer cover on the hive.
With out the newspaper barrier there may be fighting among worker bees and fighting puts the surviving queen at risk of injury or death. They will slowly chew through the newspaper allowing time for the colonies to be familiar with one another’s scents. Today I quickly lifted that top box to see if they have started get through the paper yet. There is a small spot in the very center that is already open.
Queen Amidala hanging out on a frame of capped brood, a hint of a thriving hive. (Photo Credit-Amanda Gleason)
In further news, October is feeding time. There is little available for foragers as I mentioned earlier, and the weather is just going to get colder and colder. I bought a 50lb bag of sugar from Sam’s Club and I have 3 half gallon entrance feeders. Since Thursday evening, I am making two gallons of heavy sugar syrup a day. I place two of those half gallon entrance feeders to the front of my hive in the early morning and refill them in the late afternoon. I will keep doing this until they stop taking it into the hive, indicating that they are full and have no more room for it OR when temperatures during the day drop below 57 degrees. I want them to have every advantage to set them up for survival.
I’m not going to lie to you, I am very sad about my queen. She did not suffocate in the container, so I had to dowse her in alcohol. And there is part of me that would like to memorialize her in a tiny little shadow box with some dried flowers and keep her on my altar, so for now I am keeping her. This may seem strange, but I remember science projects from grade school where we collected butterflies and mounted them on pins. The big difference is she means something to me, and she might be a nice keepsake, reminder of the trials of my first year beekeeping.