No eggs, larvae or brood.

TryingToLetThemBee said:

Also, as my bee numbers grow, BIAS is a lot better hidden

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I'm not so sure.
If I need a QUICK look for brood I always look in the middle of wooden box and by the front wall of a poly and if there is any it's there.

That aside. Last year I had two colonies stop laying with thymol, no brood pulled though just no more eggs laid. One started again towards the end of Tx the other never did and dwindled away. In the end all there was the following Spring was a small knot of bees with the queen in the middle....

Erichalfbee said:

I'm not so sure.
If I need a QUICK look for brood I always look in the middle of wooden box and by the front wall of a poly and if there is any it's there.

That aside. Last year I had two colonies stop laying with thymol, no brood pulled though just no more eggs laid. One started again towards the end of Tx the other never did and dwindled away. In the end all there was the following Spring was a small knot of bees with the queen in the middle....

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I feel ill.

When's " the end of Tx"?

Sorry TTLTB...my medical shorthand. Might be retired but old habits die hard....
Treatment

Thanks Erica and Thanks for the tip. CVB: I've never seen an egg (veil, bees, lots of places to look and after 5 days that's essentially what you're looking for given a couple of days for the fumes to clear. I'm trying to relax in the same situation. As someone senior in my Assn said to me recently as I was asking about Thymol and off lay "go looking for trouble in a beehive and you're going to find it".

i had exactly the same thing for 2 weeks or so after apiguard treatment was removed.
it sent me into a panic as i couldn't find the queen either.
no eggs no lava and a tiny patch of brood that was getting smaller and they were getting really bad tempered.
i asked peoples opinions and was almost ready to unite the hive as i was convinced they were q- .
i fed them with 4 pints of thick syrup and left them for 4 or 5 days.
the lady i bought them from came over yesterday to have a look as i am a new beek and well, I felt like a fool...
eggs everywhere and loads of lava all recently hatched.
i have no idea why the queen took 2 weeks off but i am glad she is back at work again.
my other hive didn't behave like this but i guess the difference in breed makes a big difference in their behaviour.

TryingToLetThemBee said:

As someone senior in my Assn said to me recently as I was asking about Thymol and off lay "go looking for trouble in a beehive and you're going to find it".

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Love it..... so true!

I took my Apiguard off two days ago and on Sunday just gone I did a full inspection. I didn’t see ANY brood but I have 6 full frames of honey mainly capped and some pollen in the centre. I have the largest amount of bees I have seen since starting last year too and last night I witnessed yet another group of young bees taking flight for their first time. There was huge activity outside the entrance and bees flying figure of 8 straight up!!
I am still feeding but the ivy is almost ready to flower here in Cambridge so hoping for a great crop for them to feed on.
Bees are still bringing at least five different coloured pollens in and the lightest is cream in colour which I’m not sure is, any ideas?

I've been checking lots of hives over the last 48 hours and there is very little brood and many are totally broodless. Most of the brood I have found is sealed only. Queens look okay though so I'm not overly concerned. Those who brought colonies through the winter will remember a similar thing in March/April this year, no pollen leading to no brood, but they pulled round well enough when spring finally got underway.
The good news about the current lack of brood is that varroa treatments will be highly effective.

Chris B said:

I've been checking lots of hives over the last 48 hours and there is very little brood and many are totally broodless. Most of the brood I have found is sealed only. Queens look okay though so I'm not overly concerned. Those who brought colonies through the winter will remember a similar thing in March/April this year, no pollen leading to no brood, but they pulled round well enough when spring finally got underway.
The good news about the current lack of brood is that varroa treatments will be highly effective.

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Same here,(though I've slightly less hives than You), not seen any larva for three weeks and a large number are totally broodless

I also know a beekeeper who assumed her broodless hives where queenless....hahhaha, two viable queens now dead on her landing boards and her hives are still broodless, all bees happy, and at last the pollen is coming in

To give people some hope, I have been rather worried about the same thing... I had to take the Varroa treatment off today so I had a quick look in the middle frames and discovered new eggs in both colonies so I think that now pollen is beginning to come in the queens have got back on it... interestingly the ivy around me is still not open and the pollen coming in is a rich orange. Nice to see full basketed bees going into the hive again! Its been a while!

Yes, the ivy will bring them all on.

Back in business!!

I started this thread 8 days ago reporting how after Apiguard bees cleared out all the brood. I took the Apiguard off - it only being on for 8 days and did not apply the second tray. Thankfully, after inspection today, i can report that Q laying again with eggs and larvae present today. Didn't see Q but all looks good!

I've seen lots of posts by beeks in the same position after Tx. So hopefully those in the same position will take heart from this.

Question: Would it be OK to apply Oxalic acid treatment at Christmas time or would this not be necessary?

benaghbees said:

I started this thread 8 days ago reporting how after Apiguard bees cleared out all the brood. I took the Apiguard off - it only being on for 8 days and did not apply the second tray. Thankfully, after inspection today, i can report that Q laying again with eggs and larvae present today. Didn't see Q but all looks good!

I've seen lots of posts by beeks in the same position after Tx. So hopefully those in the same position will take heart from this.

Question: Would it be OK to apply Oxalic acid treatment at Christmas time or would this not be necessary?

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Necessary, yes especially as you only applied 1 apigaurd

Thanks. First year beek so appreciate the advice!