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To: mamelukesabre
How big can a hive get? Can you keep adding trays or drawers indefinitely?

No, there is an upper limit to how big the hive can get which is how many eggs/day the queen can lay. that number is around 1,000 to 1,500 per day. Bees live around 60 to 90 days depending on the conditions, so eventually the hive reaches a steady state in the nectar flow season. during the winter, the hive shrinks to around 15,000 bees.

Eventually the queen wears out, roughly three years, and it all starts over.

103 posted on 11/08/2011 2:11:49 PM PST by beebuster2000
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To: beebuster2000

Do they produce a replacement queen to take over the existing hive? Or does a new queen start from zero workers?


104 posted on 11/08/2011 2:16:35 PM PST by mamelukesabre
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