Best layed plans....and bees :)

[thebhoy]

Checked hives yesterday and one was in swarm mode, QC's on a few frames so knocked them down and planned to do an AS today as needed to sort stand and kit. Couldn't find queen and was on a double 14 x 12, 3 supers and no QE....not the best set up to try and find her and we have a heavy flow on.

Turned up with kit and plan and early enough to thoroughly check hive. Got all set up and went through hive splitting brood into new box.... More QC's (lot's) on several frames, in BB's and supers and no trace of her. Suspect she may have tried to swarm and got lost as she had clipped wing.

Ended up putting a QE on floor of original hive, then one BB and putting all back as one hive and, as they are backfilling the Brood frames I added another super, put a crown board on top and put the second BB with back filled frames above the crown board to hopefully get the bees to take it down into the supers...will check again in a couple of days and remove all QC's as intend to requeen with another buckfast.

Was this the right course of action or should I have split the hive into two and requeened both?....my aim is to have a big colony and to get a honey crop and split later in the season.

 

[enrico]

I would have split them but that is not your plan which is fair enough.... My only comment would be that you have no idea if you have a queen or not. No good adding another until you know for certain otherwise you will just lose one of them and it may be the one you paid good money for!
E

 

[thebhoy]

Will know fairly soon if no new eggs......but the quantity of QC's and cups put up overnight and placed all areas of combs kind of flagged up that she may have gone. This is a very calm colony generally and even today whilst I was pulling it apart ( so to speak) they we're calm friendly bees. She is / was a couple of years old so would be getting replaced and used for a nuc .. Not now though.

I have a few spare queens in mating hives as emergency back up or for nucs later in the season but will use a bought in one for this colony.

 

[Teemore]

Do not leave the QX in place under your BB for too long.....

 

[oliver90owner]

First thought is were there any queen cells capped? If so, likely she is gone.

As long as all capped queen cells have been removed, you have a week from then in which to check for and remove all or all but one and make any splits and requeening as you require. Just don't miss any! Two days may not be enough for them to be hopelessly queenless.

Removing all and running in a spare laying queen is easy enough any time, but with a bought-in queen I would be a little more cautious in my approach. If they have the opportunity to make more queen cells, they might just do that and swarm.

 

[thebhoy]

Cheers Rab, no capped QC's on this inspection, will check again on Wednesday evening and then at the weekend again.
Was aiming for a big colony for a good crop...have Himalayan balsam and B/berry all round them which will be available soon.
Maybe I should split, requeen both and move one in a few weeks when another flow is on so the flyers all go to the other hive or reunite them and make a nuc up with the spare queen.......indecision...the scourge of the would be bee keeper

 

[thebhoy]

Checked this evening, queen is gone for sure, no new eggs and about 25 QC's across the frames..... Mixture of capped and open.

Plenty of bees so don't think they swarmed but always the thought they may have but probably because there wasn't so many in the top BB that I put above the crown board for them to take stores back down into the supers, and still out working, I hope. Now backfilling bottom BB

Will re-queen next week all being well and after any additional QC's from next couple of days are knocked down.