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moby

House Bee
Joined
Sep 20, 2010
Messages
186
Reaction score
0
Location
Yorkshire
Hive Type
14x12
Number of Hives
5
I have a colony which I am waiting for the queen to start laying it has been 5/6 weeks since I did an AS, all the cells are empty and look polished, there is capped honey in the super and very occasionally/seldom i see workers carrying in pollen, I am going to put a test frame in to see if the colony is queen right but

My questions are -

Is it too late in the season for a colony to produce an emergency queen and have her mated in time for autumn ?

If colony is queenless is it better to unite now with a nuc or wait for the above?
 
I don't know the definitive answer to your question but I have 2 colonies who may be queenless and so hope there's still time.

It may depend on where you are - temperature, forage, when Autumn kicks in etc.

For us we usually have a flow on in September/early October and so hopefully a queen has some time to get sorted.

Perhaps if you are less worried about honey from this hive you could start feeding them and provide pollen substitute too. Also leave it a while before treating for Varroa to give her a chance to get into her stride.

Hope these random thoughts are of use,

All the best,
Sam
 
Supercedure will continue successfully, perhaps into October.

It is the 'emergency' bit that I would not be so keen on. I reckon there is a higher percentage of emergency queens superceded before winter, more risk of her becoming a drone layer at the most inopportune time, and probably other possible 'downsides'.

So yes, it is perfectly possible. You would still have the option for uniting later anyway, so the choice is yours. I would - if I had to......

RAB
 
"Supercedure will continue successfully, perhaps into October."

yes - but in supercedure you still have a laying queen (albeit not upto par) so you don't get the 6-10 week gap without new bees.

i would imagine that we are getting very close to the point at which you will just be producing a weak nuc that may not make it through winter. remember we only have 13-14 weeks before we finally close up hives for winter!!!!

other options should perhaps be considered eg buy in a mated queen or unite as mentioned.
 
Thanks for the advice I will put a test frame in today and if emergency queen cells are present in my next inspection I will destroy cells and unite with Nuc and hopefuly get them settled for autumn
 
yes the uniting is probably the way to go BUT if you have any mating nucs why not transfer emergency cells to them and have fun trying to overwinter any mated queens that result. if successful you'll be setup to split colonies again early next season.
 
yes the uniting is probably the way to go BUT if you have any mating nucs why not transfer emergency cells to them and have fun trying to overwinter any mated queens that result. if successful you'll be setup to split colonies again early next season.

Good plan, will give it a trynot worthy
 
If colony is queenless is it better to unite now with a nuc or wait for the above?

Nothing laying eggs after 5/6 weeks would seem to suggest queenlessness.

A test frame will put you straight, then you have the option of uniting or trying to introdce a new queen.

If it were me, I would not bother giving them a chance with an emergency queen if they raise queen cells on the test frame.
 
I have a colony which I am waiting for the queen to start laying it has been 5/6 weeks since I did an AS, all the cells are empty and look polished, there is capped honey in the super and very occasionally/seldom i see workers carrying in pollen, I am going to put a test frame in to see if the colony is queen right but

My questions are -

Is it too late in the season for a colony to produce an emergency queen and have her mated in time for autumn ?

If colony is queenless is it better to unite now with a nuc or wait for the above?

Heard from plenty of people here about no eggs for 5-6 weeks from emergence, I also had 1. All have also said they've never heard of it before this year.
 
"Supercedure will continue successfully, perhaps into October."

yes - but in supercedure you still have a laying queen (albeit not upto par) so you don't get the 6-10 week gap without new bees.

i would imagine that we are getting very close to the point at which you will just be producing a weak nuc that may not make it through winter. remember we only have 13-14 weeks before we finally close up hives for winter!!!!

other options should perhaps be considered eg buy in a mated queen or unite as mentioned.
Can anyone recommend somewhere to buy in mated Queen?
 

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