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Thanks Eric and Derekm. My concern is the Drone Laying Workers in hive 1. If I united directly (ie using paper) would the DLWs interfere with the queenright hive and possibly risk the queen from hive 2? I'm not sure how they DLWs might do that, but am being v cautious nonetheless with my good...

Situation: hive 1 drone laying worker hive - quite full of bees, but not doing much. Three test frames later, still not raising queen cells. Queenless since May, so have given up on them as functioning hive. hive 2: 4 frames brood; 6 seams of bees, queenright. I would like to boost this...

Insy just a slight word of caution (as one currently experiencing drone laying workers) .... don't assume eggs will = worker brood. You might want to wait till you see capped worker brood before ringing the changes? acabee

oh jolly good. thanks acabee

2-hive owner acabee

MM - what are you saying??? Is he not human??? More seriously, can you use a supers frame for honey this year that last year was used for brood? acabee

<sigh> BOTH queens turned out to be drone layers. <another sigh> Looks like I'm in the market for queens! acabee

Hi miedel ah, so you saw the queen a week ago, but not at your last inspection and no eggs either. Well, if they have rebuilt QCs they clearly want to do something. Sounds like you might be on the boundary between deciding if it is supersedure and swarm intent. Difficult to say from afar -...

Hi meidel I have a similar situation to make sense of, though possibly different reasons. But you need to provide more information. How many QCs and where? Frames of bees etc. acabee

Thanks susbees... I'll take a look in today if I can with the weather forecast. If it is a DLQ I think I'll unite with my other hive (will need to sieve for queen first) so I get one stronger one than two weak. Oh joy. acabee

So another update on this thread - help welcome on ways forward. Inspected original hive today. This is a recent emergency queen (2/3 weeks ago; laying in last week); bees on 9 frames, eggs and uncapped brood only. Good stores on outer frames, has had undrawn super on throughout May and June...

As per SWARM, the frame of eggs you put in 'tests' for the prescence of an existing queen. If bees start to build queen cells from those eggs, they are almost certainly queenless. If queen is still present, then they are unlikely to build queen cells from the test frame eggs. But as ITMA...

Yes, being queenless can make them aggresive. Experienced beeks will tell you a hive can tell within an hour (even less) if the queen is gone. My own experience is that a hive makes a 'roaring' sound when this happens and bees will fly very easily off the combs when inspecting and come up to...

Given your friend's concern and your combined expeirences, I wouldn't wait too long. Many do inspect during lightish rain / cool temps so don't let the forecast this weekend put you off unduly. Just be as quick as you can to minimise risk of chilling of brood. My thinking in my advice above...

I think you need to check again re: queen. Have an eye to the weather - thundery days can be more 'interesting' and also if a flow has just ended. So leave till another day if you can? There's plenty of advice here re: smoking strategies (though some swear by sugar/water sprays) and also...

Welcome wingcommander (nice suit! not seen that one in beekeeping equipment lists.) I'm neither wise nor old, but you don't mention if you saw old queen during your inspection or if there were 1-3 day eggs in the 'old queen' colony. Are you sure old queen is still in residence? acabee

Thanks o90o. I'm reassured and will be even more reassured if/when I see capped worker cells. I'm just hoping that the queen cups with eggs in will not have been charged... acabee

Lots of good ideas here, and I would fully endorse the hands-on experiences. I would also strongly suggest you speak with the teacher and see if s/he is able to give some advice on what might work in their particular classroom / location. Also .. tell them what bees do at night - kids love...

I won't suggest which powerpoint to choose, but as someone involved in education I would suggest nothing more than 15 mins long and no more than 10 slides. Also props (frames; smoker; wax) etc can make it more fun and 'real'. If you are feeling confident, why not give some of the important...

Update from OP. Limited pollen going in....so just inspected both hives In both hives eggs present but nothing older. Some cells (15%?) have more than 1 (up to 3), but all are in the bottom of the cell, none on side walls. So while it could be DLQ, I think it's a queen getting into her...