Can all my Queens be missing?

[Toekneetwo]

My 2 hives swarmed around 3 weeks ago but I managed to catch 2 of the swarms but let the casts go. Didnt have the time to manage the hives prior to swarming.
The problem is that I now have 4 hives but there is not evidence of a Queen in any one of them. I searched extensively last week and again today but there is no Queen, no eggs, larvae, capped brood etc and the Queen cells from previous have been taken down.
The colonies are still strong but dwindling and I am not sure why this could have happened? Anyone have any theories on this and is it too late to introduce new Queens if I can source them?
Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[Andre cardona]

My 2 hives swarmed around 3 weeks ago but I managed to catch 2 of the swarms but let the casts go. Didnt have the time to manage the hives prior to swarming.
The problem is that I now have 4 hives but there is not evidence of a Queen in any one of them. I searched extensively last week and again today but there is no Queen, no eggs, larvae, capped brood etc and the Queen cells from previous have been taken down.
The colonies are still strong but dwindling and I am not sure why this could have happened? Anyone have any theories on this and is it too late to introduce new Queens if I can source them?
Any advice would be most appreciated.

are you queens maked at one of mine has lost the marking from last year

 

[Poly Hive]

Dear Blue toonser... fit a stramash chiel.

Foos yer doos? Aye pekkin?

Noo... nae brood eh tae dee a wee frame check wee?

Weel weel... ony chance ov gettin a wee loan o a framey or twa o eggies?

No? patience then...

PH (grins)

 

[oliver90owner]

Your post does not seem to be in agreement with your previous posts.

Do you know the difference between a prime and cast swarm?

If you had time to recover prime swarms, surely you should have made time to prevent casts?

There may well be queens in all of them. They would need removing before introduction.

RAB

 

[Toekneetwo]

I lost a prime swarm (huge cloud of bees fling across the garden) initially from one hive but subsequently caught what were two sizeable but probably cast swarms, as you suggest, one from each hive. There have been a couple of small casts released since then. There is plenty activity going on and the honey and pollen stores are building up, just no Queen activity. I wasn't confident enough to intervene previously as I was concerned my limited knowledge may make matters worse.
My Queens were not marked but it's not been a real problem identifying them until now.

 

[MuswellMetro]

why did you not remove all but one the QC after the first swarm, you would have no casts then unless you missed one

so now you think you have no queens, well your old queen left with the prime, you caught a first virgin caste swarm with virgin queen and other castes issued the second virgins, third virgins went etc a

so in your main hive you have a second ,third or fourth virgin at least that will not lay for 15 to 30 days after the last cast issued

bees are difficult to stop swarming and even more diffiuclt to stop if you just ignore the basic rules, have you realy the time to be a beekeeper

read several good books on beekeeping over winter




so

 

[For want of a better word]

Dear Blue toonser... fit a stramash chiel.

Foos yer doos? Aye pekkin?

Noo... nae brood eh tae dee a wee frame check wee?

Weel weel... ony chance ov gettin a wee loan o a framey or twa o eggies?

No? patience then...

PH (grins)

Found that bottle of Drambuie you lost then?​

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

So, what did they leave behind when they swarmed. Queen cells or an emerged virgin queens!!!
All might be lost, those virgin queens are hard to spot...

Brian

 

[Flatters]

Hi Toekneetwo
I think you are getting some stick here but you have left yourself open to it. “Didnt have the time to manage the hives prior to swarming.” Perhaps is the reason why.

You cannot expect the bees to behave because you didn’t have the time to manage them. I have found they don’t behave when you do!

If none of your hives have eggs in then I doubt you have captured a prime swarm. A prime swarm would have a productive queen in it. If you have captured a cast then it will be virgin queen and she will need time to mate.

If the two hives that were left only swarmed once, then at the time of swarming there would have been a capped QC. When the queen emerged she will have gone off and mated. However if you left multiple QC in the hive then this could have lead to the cast swarm.

Personally I would sit tight for about 3 weeks and see what happens. If there are virgin queens in there, which are harder to spot, then they may get mated. And so start to build up the colony. Depending on how the summer goes will also dictate what you have to do next.

 

[Winker]

Dear Blue toonser... fit a stramash chiel.

Foos yer doos? Aye pekkin?

Noo... nae brood eh tae dee a wee frame check wee?

Weel weel... ony chance ov gettin a wee loan o a framey or twa o eggies?

No? patience then...

PH (grins)

Hey min that made me laugh

striaght oot O Oor Wullie

 

[Toekneetwo]

why did you not remove all but one the QC after the first swarm, you would have no casts then unless you missed one

so now you think you have no queens, well your old queen left with the prime, you caught a first virgin caste swarm with virgin queen and other castes issued the second virgins, third virgins went etc a

so in your main hive you have a second ,third or fourth virgin at least that will not lay for 15 to 30 days after the last cast issued

bees are difficult to stop swarming and even more diffiuclt to stop if you just ignore the basic rules, have you realy the time to be a beekeeper

read several good books on beekeeping over winter




so

Thanks for the information......very useful and may explain why there is no obvious activity going on.
As for the books.........I have read many from cover to cover several times but sometimes they just don't answer all the questions Which makes the forum invaluable.
Will ignore the other remark...........

 

[Toekneetwo]

Hi Toekneetwo
I think you are getting some stick here but you have left yourself open to it. “Didnt have the time to manage the hives prior to swarming.” Perhaps is the reason why.

You cannot expect the bees to behave because you didn’t have the time to manage them. I have found they don’t behave when you do!

If none of your hives have eggs in then I doubt you have captured a prime swarm. A prime swarm would have a productive queen in it. If you have captured a cast then it will be virgin queen and she will need time to mate.

If the two hives that were left only swarmed once, then at the time of swarming there would have been a capped QC. When the queen emerged she will have gone off and mated. However if you left multiple QC in the hive then this could have lead to the cast swarm.

Personally I would sit tight for about 3 weeks and see what happens. If there are virgin queens in there, which are harder to spot, then they may get mated. And so start to build up the colony. Depending on how the summer goes will also dictate what you have to do next.

So it would appear..........will think twice before going away around swarming time next year.
Thanks for the advice and opinion.