- Joined
- Mar 23, 2011
- Messages
- 31
- Reaction score
- 2
- Location
- S Notts
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 10+
One of my hives has been queenless for around six weeks following a missed swarm early in the year. The QCs were cut down to one, no eggs two weeks after expected hatching and they subsequently raised queen cells from the first test frame I put in (eggs only). During the intervening time they have been very agressive which I put down to being queenless and just got on with things hoping the situation things would get better once a queen was present.
I've re-examined them today and there are now two frames of eggs in a good pattern so expect this to be a mated queen, not laying workers. The bees however are, if anything, even worse. After one somehow made its way inside my hood I decided not to persevere looking for the queen.
So, my question is: how much of aggression is environmental or genetic? I could requeen (or unite with a more placid colony) but I'd assumed they would calm down once they had a queen. Obviously none of the vicious bees are genetically of the new queen so do I just wait for six weeks until the old aggressive bees have died and see how they are then? Or is the agression likely to remain even though the agression pre-dates the emergence of the new queen? There are only eggs at the moment, will they calm down once there is brood to look after?
I've re-examined them today and there are now two frames of eggs in a good pattern so expect this to be a mated queen, not laying workers. The bees however are, if anything, even worse. After one somehow made its way inside my hood I decided not to persevere looking for the queen.
So, my question is: how much of aggression is environmental or genetic? I could requeen (or unite with a more placid colony) but I'd assumed they would calm down once they had a queen. Obviously none of the vicious bees are genetically of the new queen so do I just wait for six weeks until the old aggressive bees have died and see how they are then? Or is the agression likely to remain even though the agression pre-dates the emergence of the new queen? There are only eggs at the moment, will they calm down once there is brood to look after?