Читать книгу Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner - Группа авторов - Страница 112

A colony in the process will have either queen cells of some stage present, or a virgin queen. A virgin is difficult for the untrained eye to spot.

Practical application: if a colony has recently lost its queen, emergency queen cells should be present. One way to test for queenlessness is to insert a frame of eggs and young larvae from another hive; if the colony is indeed queenless, it will start the construction of emergency cells on that frame by the next day.

Practical application: A colony in the process of requeening itself is generally calm, not jittery, does not “roar” in response to smoke, and prepares the cells in the center of the broodnest for the new queen to lay in, by keeping them polished and free of food stores. If the bees are storing nectar and pollen in the center combs, suspect queenlessness.