More Bees News
Late last fall we learned that one of our two beehives was struggling. Molly, our bee expert, found evidence that a new queen may have hatched, but we could not find her in the hive. There was also a disturbing lack of new eggs, so we knew we had a problem.
Like many managers, we decided to ignore the problem in hopes that it would resolve over the winter.
When we finally opened the hive a week ago, we saw the queen. We congratulated ourselves for being astute managers after all.
But, Molly quickly dampened our enthusiasm.
While we may have found the queen, but she is a virgin.
What's a Virgin Queen?
Soon after hatching, a new queen leaves the hive and has a giant hookup with drones from nearby hives. Upon her return, the queen begins to lay eggs and supports the hive for the next couple of years.
But because our queen hatched in late fall, our queen missed the party. So she is laying unfertilized eggs which won't support the hive.
John, Molly and I discussed our options:
We could wait
We could buy another queen
We could even take a brood from our stronger hive to buy more time
While Molly is the expert, John and I had to make the decision. Like many managers, we had to make a decision with limited information.
We decided to do nothing.
Maybe warmer weather will allow our queen to have an early spring rendezvous with nearby drones. If our queen shows evidence of fertilized eggs, we will leave her alone. If our queen is still a virgin, we will buy a new queen and replace (eliminate) our virgin queen.
In summary, last fall we decided to wait and see if we had a viable queen. That decision resulted in a weak hive and we can not allow that to continue. In order for this hive to survive the winter, it needs a productive queen.
Similarly in organizations, good leaders identify clear outcomes while encouraging team members' growth and learning. That may mean adding resources (adding brood), encouragement (romantic music?), and patience. All successful leaders must be prepared to take action when the team's viability is threatened.
At times mother nature and leaders have to be tough.