Missing Queen

[Spanker]

probably a long shot but what are the chances of getting a queen this time of year?

ive just checked one of my hives and there is no capped brood or eggs. i checked the other hive and there's quiet a bit of capped brood.

any ideas? is it to late to combine them?

 

[Erichalfbee]

probably a long shot but what are the chances of getting a queen this time of year?

ive just checked one of my hives and there is no capped brood or eggs. i checked the other hive and there's quiet a bit of capped brood.

any ideas? is it to late to combine them?

Not too late to combine but you need to make sure there is no queen and the colony is disease free.
BS have their last lot of queens in stock

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I wouldn't be certain the queen has gone - could be on a brood break

 

[Spanker]

Not too late to combine but you need to make sure there is no queen and the colony is disease free.
BS have their last lot of queens in stock

Dont think there is any diseease they were bursting with brood a few weeks ago and all looked good. I removed the supers begining september left them one full one but the hive is light on stores now.
whats the latest i could combine them? the weather is not looking good for the next few weeks.

 

[Spanker]

I wouldn't be certain the queen has gone - could be on a brood break

may have to do a full inspection i only looked at a few frames today i was just removing the QE and checking stores.
if the stores are low would that stop her laying?

 

[Millet]

Not checked lately and I wil not till April ..whatever is going on.is in the hands of the gods now

 

[enrico]

Please test first. Chances are she is getting numbers down! As JBM says!
E

 

[Bee Boys]

Test first
My queens are slowing down to.

 

[Spanker]

Please test first. Chances are she is getting numbers down! As JBM says!
E

how would I test put in a frame of eggs?

 

[enrico]

Yes, put a frame of eggs and young brood in from your other hive. If they make queen cells the chances are you are indeed queenless. If they don't the chances are there IS a queen in there.
If you combine without doing this you are asking for trouble.
Honestly, so many people think they are queenless when they have been superceded or just having a rest. She has to bring the numbers down for winter.
Let us know how you get on
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

A must for beginners is this publication
http://www.wbka.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/There-Are-Queen-Cells-In-My-Hive-WBKA-WAG.pdf
AND test frame test frame written inside their eyelids.

 

[Spanker]

Yes, put a frame of eggs and young brood in from your other hive. If they make queen cells the chances are you are indeed queenless. If they don't the chances are there IS a queen in there.
If you combine without doing this you are asking for trouble.
Honestly, so many people think they are queenless when they have been superceded or just having a rest. She has to bring the numbers down for winter.
Let us know how you get on
E

ill try that next bit of decent weather we have,
when i checked there was an emerged queen cell on a frame ,so if this is a supercedure would she have had timeor weather to mate or will she wait until next year to get mated?
there are a lot of bees still in the hive full seems plus a super.

 

[Spanker]

A must for beginners is this publication
http://www.wbka.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/There-Are-Queen-Cells-In-My-Hive-WBKA-WAG.pdf
AND test frame test frame written inside their eyelids.

Thanks
ive read this will read several more times before it sinks in mithinks.

 

[Erichalfbee]

will she wait until next year to get mated?
.

No
3/4 weeks after emerging and she’s stuffed.... or not I suppose
The mating window closes and she will become a drone layer

 

[Swarm]

I would leave well alone, certainly wouldn't be taking egg frames from others and depleting those.
Chances are you have a queen taking a break.

 

[drex]

The test frame need not stay in the colony tested. It will give a clear result in 2-3 days and can then be returned to donor colony. Of course if it was earlier in the year, you might want to leave it if queen cells were produced and you wanted to raise a queen.

 

[Spanker]

The test frame need not stay in the colony tested. It will give a clear result in 2-3 days and can then be returned to donor colony. Of course if it was earlier in the year, you might want to leave it if queen cells were produced and you wanted to raise a queen.

Ah didn't think of that, so if it is q- the only option this time of year would be to combine, or could introduce a mated queen if i could get hold of one and leave them to it.

 

[Walrus]

Spanker have you got no brood at all? No eggs, no open brood, no sealed brood, and no signs of an emerged queen cell?

 

[enrico]

He said he had an emerged queen cell which is why we are saying hold your horses!
E

 

[thorn]

When I inspected a week ago one hive had just a small patch of sealed brood, and no sign of eggs or unsealed larvae. This afternoon I found the sealed brood had emerged, and there was no sign of BIAS in the first seven frames. There was nothing on the eighth frame either. My mate was just about to lower it back into the hive when I spotted the queen.
The moral is, pay heed to JBM (sometimes).