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justme

Field Bee
Joined
May 27, 2010
Messages
896
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Location
Middle of Cornwall. uk
Hive Type
Other
Number of Hives
10(OSB hives)1 National
Hi all,
The A/s / nuc reunited(on another thread) that went weird with queen cells being ripped down left , right and centre and then started laying last week has turned out to be a drone layer;.(

Havent yet found the queen, weather not great for looking.

Last night a friend texted me, do you want a queen? Checked it out with him, realsied that I wouldn't find the queen now as it was too cold to keep the hive open long, so I made up a small split (again) in a nuc box. I checked as best as I could but quickly (weather) to see if I could see the queen, no I couldn't. Box is facing other way, almost no bees flying, it was coldish.

Then the new queen turned up. Because I wasn't sure which box the DLQ was in I put the new Q in a cage in the nuc, no fondant, aiming to check for new eggs asap then i'll know where to introduce new Q.

Question 1, have I done ok so far?

Question 2, This morning, heavy drizzle. Went up to peep round corner at hives, many bees , in the drizzle, flying round and round between the two hives, not near either entrance. Why would this be?


Both hives have feeders on.

Advice please, Di.
 
Q1) When you split the colony, always leave them a few minutes and they will likely tell you which is queenless. The Q- will likely be roaring and darting round the frames; the bees in the Q+ will be calm and quiet. So missed a trick there.

Q2) Is this robbing possibly? Could it be bees returning to 'home' from the nuc?(probably not). Robbing more likely if forage is in short supply and you fed both at the same time as splitting. Possibly another trick missed there, too.

All you can do is wait and see what is happening, and go from there.

Regards, RAB
 
Hi RAB. Thanks.
Guess i knew answer to question 1, just didn't put brain in gear first, didn't expect offer of Q with arrival in 20 mins so panic! Well not panic but, just better get on.....

Q 2. As the original colony were being fed I thought feeding that feeding the nuc box would prevent robbing:.(

Just looked again, now flying bees are around nuc, but not trying the entrance more landing on and mooching around the sides.
Could this be because they know that the Q's (both) are in that box?

Also, is it too late to tell by looking inside whether one is Q-?
 
First of all this is an instance where you ignore the weather.

Look in your suspect box and if they are Q- you should be able to see cells which are suspiciously full of Royal Jelly.

Try and find the queen if there are no white cells and kill her off.

Check through your nuc and see if the drone layer is in there and it is advvisible to NOT let out your introduced queen (ie let the bees at the candy) in case there is a mix up as this seems potentially to be as the end result is bound to be a dead good queen. Sods law always applies.

PH
 
There's normally no need to rush and panic.. Take your time. Have a cup of tea and think before cutting out the last queen cells or doing something you might regret...

If the new queen is in a cage with some attendants and some fondant, there's no rush. They'll keep!

If the split was yesterday you can shake the bees into a brood box/super on the old site. Put on a queen excluder then the brood box with frames. Wait a few hours for the bees to work their way up to the brood. Queen will be below queen excluder - unless she is small and can get through.

If you only have only drone brood you don't really want it anyway so it's not too much of a problem if it gets a bit cool (!)
 
Di

I think you have done excellently. And you have got a good friend there because new queens go for about £30 each.

You still have a problem though, and that is one finding the DLQ. Often queens do not mate because they are just too small and weedy to fly. And as you know, a small queen looks a lot like a worker. And they can pass through a queen excluder.

You have to proceed with caution and use a bit of common sense. If one part of your split raises queen cells, then they are queenless. But in doing this, they are in the queenless frame of mind and may be reluctant to accept a new queen. So, do not allow the new queen out too soon. Re-unite the hive and leave the queen caged for a couple of days.
 
Thanks all:.)
Have noted bits I was too late to action and actioned the rest. I now have a peaceful apiary again:.)
The Q is still caged for now with her entourage, the DLQ is no more AND I managed to do it in reasonable weather.
Thanks PH for the bit about the weather especially, as I had never heard that before:.)
Thanks HBGB that idea worked:.)
Thanks again RAB:.)
Midland Beek, you are so right, I am very lucky, couldn't believe it when he texted then phoned to say he was on his way out her. Luckily also she wasn't so small that I couldn't find her. As it was only a last night split they reunited ok with no problems, I did icing sugar them to help it along. Q will stay caged until safe:.) Thanks:.)
 
For goodness sake there are times weather is immaterial.

Glad to give a heads up.

Admin I feel a sticky here.

I am always available on PM or phone.

PH
 
For goodness sake there are times weather is immaterial.

Glad to give a heads up.

Admin I feel a sticky here.

I am always available on PM or phone.

PH

Glad you said that Poly. I had to insert a new queen today (24 hours after despatching old non layer) and it was p**ssing down. Put caged queen in aided by bee suit and golf brolly.:seeya:
 

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