Humpbacked brood in bees: signs and causes of the problem, what to do and prevention

Disease or underdevelopment of the reproductive organs of the uterus, its death can lead to the appearance of the so-called humpback brood in honey bees. In this case, the worker bees turn into tinders, which lay unfertilized eggs. This leads to the fact that drones begin to predominate in the hive, and worker bees are sorely lacking. If measures are not taken in time, the bee colony may die.

Signs of humpback brood

Tinders lay their eggs chaotically, without observing any system that exists during the normal functioning of a bee hive with a full-fledged queen and worker bees.It is quite easy for an experienced specialist to notice abnormal masonry, because there is no order in their placement.

He althy clutches are made in dense rows or groups, and the eggs of defective working females are laid at random, in the first combs that turn up, not even suitable for these purposes.

The cells in the combs are for bee larvae, not drones, so they don't match them in size, besides, reborn workers can lay several eggs in one cell or do it in honeycombs filled with bee bread. As a result, the cells are overcrowded and extremely cramped for growing drones. They become dwarfed.

Due to the tightness and overcrowding of the cells, the bees cannot properly seal them with wax. They produce convex lids that rise like humps above the level of the comb, which led to the appearance of the term "humped brood" among bees.This is a highly visible abnormality that helps beekeepers identify the absence or he alth problems of the queen.

Trotovki are very prolific, thanks to which each can lay from 19 to 32 eggs per day. If urgent measures are not taken, within a short time there will be no worker bees - the main breadwinners of the family.

Causes of the problem

If a queen dies in a bee colony for any reason or it develops a disease of the reproductive organs, in which it cannot reproduce worker bees, the composition of the hive begins to change very quickly. As early as 12 days after changes in the sexual he alth of the uterus or its death, the first worms appear, and after 28 days they lay defective eggs.

They hatch into drones, which are busy only with the reproduction of offspring. They also quickly absorb the food reserves made to feed the growing bees. Over time, due to such a bias, there is practically no food reserve left in the hive, and the bees that supply food to the family do not appear, hunger sets in, exhaustion of strength and, as a result, death.

Humpbacked brood does not appear as a result of infection or outside influence, but is a problem of disruption of family relations in the hive, directly related to the he alth and life of the uterus. If this main link falls out for some reason, the life of the family is destroyed.

What to do with humpback brood

If a queen has died or is seriously ill, or tinder and humpback brood have been detected, one of the following actions should be taken:

1. Combining a "defective" family with a he althy one. This can be a long and difficult process, as a tinder hive can simply kill a strong productive queen to keep producing drones.
2. Introducing brood from he althy hives into a dysfunctional colony. They do this in stages so that the tinders get used to the changes and do not behave aggressively.
3. The most effective thing for humpback brood is replanting a full-fledged swarm that has taken off from a he althy colony. You need to do this through a letok, then beginners get in gradually and assimilate with the indigenous people without any problems. If you let the whole swarm through the lid of the house, the process of merging families can go very rapidly. However, this method can only be used during the period when swarming occurs.
4. Removing the comb will cause the insects to scatter around the surrounding hives.

Replanting a queen, even repeated, may not lead to the desired result, because aggressive drones and reborn bees will not accept her and will try to expel or kill her.But you still have to take action, because humpback brood is a “black mark”, evidence that without urgent human intervention, the family is doomed to inevitable extinction.

Prevention measures

Since chirping does not appear as a result of external causes and is not associated with any noticeable manifestations, the only effective method of prevention is regular monitoring of the family's condition.

For this, a constant check of the work of the uterus and its presence is carried out. If she fails to cope with the activities prescribed for her for some reason, she must be replaced by a fertile he althy individual. This is possible only if the beekeeper takes care in advance that he has a supply of full-fledged, strong queens.

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