clipped queen swarm

[Bevbee]

Hi - My first ever question.

I inspected my two hives today for the first time in 12 days ( weather having been so poor)

My largest hive had a green marked , clipped queen- last seen three weeks ago. At the last inspection they were quite short-tempered and the brood body was quite full ( 7 frames of brood) although they had two supers.

Today I found charged q cells and could not find the Queen. I was going to to make a second pass but the sun went in and it started to rain. I will have a good search for her tomorrow but if the swarm happened last week, then my queen is dead and the flying bees are simply waiting for the new queen to hatch so they can swarm again. ( successfully this time)

My question is: if this is the case How do I do an AS? Will the new queen hatch and go on her mating flight come home and then swarm ? How long do I wait ?

Thanks in advance

 

[snelgrove]

if the old queen is lost, take a nuc off with a queen cell, and leave an unsealed cell in full colony, removing emergency cells later. you could just remove all cells but one, but taking a nuc weakens the colony and they continue to work. Artificial swarm without laying queen is ot much use

 

[Bevbee]

That makes sense.
If I cant find her tomorrow that is what I will do .

Many thanks

 

[Arfermo]

Did you see any eggs? If you did see some you have a queen somewhere.

 

[Bevbee]

No egg - although my eyesight is pretty poor.
I checked today and have only capped brood no grub and no queen in sight . I split hive placing one frame with an emergency cell in one hive and a frame with two ( now) sealed queen cells in the other . I am hoping that new queens will emerge, mate and lay like champions.

When I inspected my other colony -a similar story in that the brood was all capped and no grub ( except a very few on one frame . However I saw this queen so do I assume that she stopped laying when it was cold ? If so there might be a ( slim) chance that my other queen is still around .

Either way - how long do I leave the two hives that I have split from the missing queen hive ? Feel that I really should leave well alone for a week - but i would welcome advice.

 

[Davelin]

Sealed queen cells could take up to a week to emerge, may take another 10 days to mate, few more days to start laying properly,

so no point looking for three weeks.

 

[Bevbee]

Sealed queen cells could take up to a week to emerge, may take another 10 days to mate, few more days to start laying properly,

so no point looking for three weeks.

Not even to check that the cells have hatched ? I am concerned that the cold weather might have killed the contents of the q cells and that I will have to source a new queen and that delay could risk losing the colony.
I am not impatient - just new and worrying all time

Thanks

 

[Davelin]

I can understand your worries, but....

it's a bit early to be able to get hold of a queen,

if the cells are open it's not a guarantee that queens have emerged successfully,

you'd be unlucky if both failed, and if one is successful you can recombine.

I would just cross fingers and wait

and when you do see those eggs, it's one of the best feelings in my experience.

 

[banwee40]

No egg - although my eyesight is pretty poor.
I checked today and have only capped brood no grub and no queen in sight . I split hive placing one frame with an emergency cell in one hive and a frame with two ( now) sealed queen cells in the other . I am hoping that new queens will emerge, mate and lay like champions.

When I inspected my other colony -a similar story in that the brood was all capped and no grub ( except a very few on one frame . However I saw this queen so do I assume that she stopped laying when it was cold ? If so there might be a ( slim) chance that my other queen is still around .

Either way - how long do I leave the two hives that I have split from the missing queen hive ? Feel that I really should leave well alone for a week - but i would welcome advice.

I know it sounds obvious but did you shake plenty of bees into the splits to give them enough bees to look after and keep the brood warm and look after the queen cells.

 

[Bevbee]

I did shake bees into the half that was to be deprived of the flying bees - I hope that shook enough of them in.

I considered putting this part of the split into a poly nuc but opted for the ( much more draughty ) national brood box because I read on this forum that the poly nuc should not be used until approx 4 weeks after painting the interior. I only bought and painted the polynuc just over a week ago ( although it was with cuprinol not creosote ) Is this ok do you think or should I move them ?

I didn't shake the frame with QC ( i read that that was not a good idea)

 

[Bevbee]

Thank you - I have my fingers crossed - hoping to experience that feeling .

 

[MerryBee]

I only bought and painted the polynuc just over a week ago ( although it was with cuprinol not creosote )

Why did you paint the inside of a polynuc with cuprinol?

 

[Bevbee]

Because I painted the outside with it for protection and a post on this forum said that as queen bees like the dark, the inside should be painted to prevent the bright white of the interior poly, lightening everything up . As I was painting with a fairly dark colour - I thought that it would do the job as well as anything else .

Should I move the bees into this poly nuc ? If not , why not ?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Because I painted the outside with it for protection and a post on this forum said that as queen bees like the dark, the inside should be painted to prevent the bright white of the interior poly, lightening everything up . As I was painting with a fairly dark colour - I thought that it would do the job as well as anything else .

Should I move the bees into this poly nuc ? If not , why not ?

I can't recall the post you mentioned but you need to apply a healthy dose of cynicism to what you read. Of all the polynucs in use I doubt more than a handful have been painted inside. Certainly none of those I've come across in our association.
The box is full of frames and wax etc so light isn't going to be bouncing around between the inner surfaces anyway.
A good philosophy - If it sounds illogical it probably is

 

[MerryBee]

Never seen the inside of a polynuc painted. But if you have used cuprinol garden shades (as I do for the outside) its safe for bees, so no harm done.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

post on this forum said that as queen bees like the dark, the inside should be painted to prevent the bright white of the interior poly, lightening everything up .

First time ever I've heard that bit of 'advice' - must have come from the lunatic fringe, so swiftly filed in the 'forget it completely' section of my brain!

 

[Bevbee]

tartan paint then

Hahaha I probably am a little less discerning than normal!

Id like to thank everyone who has taken the trouble to reply, reassure and help me, it really is appreciated.

I only received my bees last July and over-Wintering was pretty straight forward as the treatments and feeds and fondant on Christmas day ( well someone said that it was a tradition she followed ...... ) were all by the book. The amount of practical learning that I have tried to absorb over the last few weeks is phenomenal. I sense the same panic and worry that I have in many of the new beeks posts, so this forum is just wonderful.

I promise that when I am experienced and not chasing off to B&Q for left handed screwdrivers and the like, I will pass on my knowledge with the same kindness and patience xx

 

[Ivor Kemp]

Some very good reasons here why not to clip Queens!!

 

[BeeJayBee]

If they don't like the paint on the inside they'll either spend time stripping it off or will cover it with a good layer of propolis.

The only inside part of a poly hive that does need painting is the inside of a feeder.

I promise that when I am experienced and not chasing off to B&Q for left handed screwdrivers and the like, I will pass on my knowledge with the same kindness and patience

So you won't be searching the internet for waggle dance music?

 

[Bevbee]

Can't find the best music to waggle dance to - will the bee gees do ?��