Where to purchase Kutiks Honey
I hate to be a nag, but what about the QUEENS?
Oh, yeah! Sometimes the hive decides that new queens are needed. Perhaps the old queen is getting weak, or she has died. Or the hive is getting crowded and is thinking of dividing (swarming).
Image copyright 2002, by David
L. Green
Some worker larvae, less than three days old, are selected to be queens. Their cell is extended outward and then down, making a vertical cell that looks a bit like a peanut.
Image copyright 2002, by David
L. Green
The bottom bar of a frame is a favorite spot for swarm cells. The queen will deposit an egg into the new cells, as in the one on the left. Then the bees build the cell further down to make room for a developing larva.
Image copyright 2002, by David
L. Green
Here the larger cell is opened to show the tiny larva floating in the center, and the immense amount of royal jelly that literally floods the cell. Larvae destined to become queens will contine the royal jelly food throughout the entire larval stage, not just three days like their worker sisters. After I open the cell, some of the nurse bees will try to repair it, just like this gal here.
Image copyright 2002, by David
L. Green
I have opened these queen cells, which were close to hatching. One can see the nearly formed adult queen bees, with dark eyespots at the bottom. Yes, they do develop head-down.
Kutik's Honey Farm
285 Lyon Brook Rd. Norwich, NY 13815
607-336-4105, Fax: 607-336-4199
(February through May, we
are usually in South
Carolina 803-473-4205)
This page was last updated on February 4, 2012.