Advice needed on Queenless Colony

[Derry Hill]

Hello all,

New to the forum so go easy on me.

I'm after some desperately needed advice regarding one of my colonies which is simply not following the rules!

This particular colony swarmed in mid May, fortunately I was able to capture the swarm. After confirming that the new queen was laying I eventually reunited them as I am limited for space.

Poor weather has limited my ability to check on them, but over the past few weeks I have checked them three times and there has been no sign of the queen or brood, so something has gone wrong!

Last week I introduced a frame of brood from my second colony with the hope of getting them to rear a new queen but upon checking yesterday they had not attempted to create any queen cells and appear to just be raising them as normal.

What's worse is that it appears some of the workers are now laying drones !

Will I have to get rid of the laying workers before they will try to raise a new queen (I've read that the laying workers lose the ability to fly so can be dealt with in that way)

My next option is to unite both of my colonies for this year and split them next spring or if they try to swarm later in the year split them then.

Alternatively I was thinking of buying a queen, but again I'm worried that as I have laying workers they will not take her?

Any help appreciated.

 

[drex]

Provided the frame of brood you introduced contained eggs and larvae under 3 days old, it would act as a "test frame". They did not produce queen cells which says you have a queen in there.

Are the drone cells on the test frame? - this fooled me a few times last year, until I thought about it. Drones take 24 days to emerge, the longest of all, so are the last to be seen, when you do not have a laying queen

Patience. As seen in posts on here, it is taking a long time for queens to come into lay.

 

[enrico]

Provided the frame of brood you introduced contained eggs and larvae under 3 days old, it would act as a "test frame". They did not produce queen cells which says you have a queen in there.

Are the drone cells on the test frame? - this fooled me a few times last year, until I thought about it. Drones take 24 days to emerge, the longest of all, so are the last to be seen, when you do not have a laying queen

Patience. As seen in posts on here, it is taking a long time for queens to come into lay.

Patience is what is needed here...... Derry hill has said it all
E

 

[REDWOOD]

you said the new queen was laying so what has happened now, did the new queen mate properly, can you see her, you will have to look again and try to find the queen to access what has happened

 

[oliver90owner]

mid May,

After confirming that the new queen was laying I eventually reunited them

over the past few weeks I have checked them three times and there has been no sign of the queen or brood,

Sorry, but your thread does not make sense. The new queen woulfd not have emerged until late May?

Takes time for her to mate - a couple of weeks so she would likely not have come into lay until say, first week in June. Probably second week with the weather we have been having. Some dates would actually be good.

I am wondering which queen you confirmed as laying. Please give us a bit more specifics rather than generally woolly dates. I am not yet convinced that you did not unite a laying queen to a colony with a virgin, from your post.

 

[Derry Hill]

Ok, a bit more info.

Swarmed on 13th May.
Reunited on the 3rd June after confirming new queen and killing the old queen.

Left alone for 10 days or so due to weather.

3 checks since then including introduction of 'test' frame 6 days ago.

Drones emerging last week which I took to mean that a worker was laying but looking at the timing could have been from the old queen.

Could not find queen (not marked yet) but was dodging showers.

I will sit tight and wait, if I am somehow queenless and some workers are laying, will they kill a new queen?

Many thanks again

 

[Silly Bee]

Are they full size drones?

 

[Silly Bee]

ie

Laid by a queen or a worker.

 

[Derry Hill]

Full size, obviously a difference?

 

[Silly Bee]

DLW produce smaller drones.

 

[oliver90owner]

Drones emerging last week

Eggs laid 24 days previously? That would make a laying worker active in May - and not a chance if their were two queens (one in each part).

The question to ask is how were they united. Even if the queen were lost at the unite, you said she was laying, so emergency cells would have been made - bees are not that stupid!

I would think you have a dodgy queen in there.

Personally, if I were reuniting A/Ss, I would want to see capped brood, at least, and preferably unite after brood is emerging, after checking the temperament of the colony.

A queen into a nuc with a couple frames of bees is always good insurance when one doesn't have so many colonies. Burning bridges comes to mind.

 

[Derry Hill]

Oh ok, thanks, definitely big boys.

Thanks everyone, you've put my mind at rest for now!

Being a novice I find it hard not to jump in a little quickly.

 

[Derry Hill]

Point noted, just relied on advice of more experienced beekeepers as to when to reunite