JonnyPicklechin
Field Bee
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2015
- Messages
- 543
- Reaction score
- 38
- Location
- Isleworth
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 20 odd
Just a quick log for my method of fixing colonies which had developed laying-workers. I have successfully nursed back two colonies from frames of drone brood to healthy laying queens with lovely brood patterns.
Note: There is nothing novel here except the "menu" and "recipe". Many have used these techniques. I am posting here in the Beginners section because as a beginner I had found no documented regimen as such...So thought the following would be useful as a guide. Also its worth pointing out that dependence on where and when in the beekeeping season you encounter a laying worker problem will probably dictate whether you follow this method or the simpler "just shake 'em out" method. I'm not advocating this way particularly - I've got about 20 hives so was able to try this with two affected laying-worker colonies to see what happened...And it worked in both cases. Finally, the very best method for dealing with this issue is not to develop laying workers in the first place!
Simple method during April to July:
1. Obtain a small amount of the substance "Ocimene". It comes in a wee bottle from this supplier Ocimene. I bought 4ml but 2ml will do.
2. Put a couple of drops in a spray bottle filled with water. You'll know if you are happy as the water will smell "just enough" of the ocimene.
3. Remove a couple of frames with drone brood from the target hive and swap them for some decent BIAS frames from a good hive. This will introduce healthy brood to the colony, including the pheromone.
4. With the BIAS frames now in the hive, spray the entire number of brood frames in your BB at the top. You should be able to smell the ocimene. (The ocimene performs the function of emulating the brood pheromone - There are some papers online you can find that explain some experiments)
5. Spray the frames like this each time you are on an inspection. (You don't need to look at the frames anymore.)
6. Every other inspection i.e. 1 in 2, for the next 3 inspections cycles, take out another drone-brood populated frame and swap it (This means with the initial 2 frames you did first, you'll do another 3 swaps.)
7. Spray again each time.
The introduction of eggs / larva will at some stage will invite the bees to make an emergency queen cell. The ocimene ensures they are deterred from creating more laying workers. My sense is that the laying workers either die or simply go off-lay through the process. The new BIAS will finally "catch on" with the existing workers and normal service is resumed after they raise and accept a new VQ.
It took about 10-12 weeks from the original programme start to notice healthy queen brood using this method.
PS One variation I did on one hive, was to introduce a capped QC. However the bees chewed it out. After two separate attempts I remained with the above. Dare say if you keep going they will finally accept the QC and this should speed things up a bit. Probably best to use a good swarm cell if you can spare it...
Note: There is nothing novel here except the "menu" and "recipe". Many have used these techniques. I am posting here in the Beginners section because as a beginner I had found no documented regimen as such...So thought the following would be useful as a guide. Also its worth pointing out that dependence on where and when in the beekeeping season you encounter a laying worker problem will probably dictate whether you follow this method or the simpler "just shake 'em out" method. I'm not advocating this way particularly - I've got about 20 hives so was able to try this with two affected laying-worker colonies to see what happened...And it worked in both cases. Finally, the very best method for dealing with this issue is not to develop laying workers in the first place!
Simple method during April to July:
1. Obtain a small amount of the substance "Ocimene". It comes in a wee bottle from this supplier Ocimene. I bought 4ml but 2ml will do.
2. Put a couple of drops in a spray bottle filled with water. You'll know if you are happy as the water will smell "just enough" of the ocimene.
3. Remove a couple of frames with drone brood from the target hive and swap them for some decent BIAS frames from a good hive. This will introduce healthy brood to the colony, including the pheromone.
4. With the BIAS frames now in the hive, spray the entire number of brood frames in your BB at the top. You should be able to smell the ocimene. (The ocimene performs the function of emulating the brood pheromone - There are some papers online you can find that explain some experiments)
5. Spray the frames like this each time you are on an inspection. (You don't need to look at the frames anymore.)
6. Every other inspection i.e. 1 in 2, for the next 3 inspections cycles, take out another drone-brood populated frame and swap it (This means with the initial 2 frames you did first, you'll do another 3 swaps.)
7. Spray again each time.
The introduction of eggs / larva will at some stage will invite the bees to make an emergency queen cell. The ocimene ensures they are deterred from creating more laying workers. My sense is that the laying workers either die or simply go off-lay through the process. The new BIAS will finally "catch on" with the existing workers and normal service is resumed after they raise and accept a new VQ.
It took about 10-12 weeks from the original programme start to notice healthy queen brood using this method.
PS One variation I did on one hive, was to introduce a capped QC. However the bees chewed it out. After two separate attempts I remained with the above. Dare say if you keep going they will finally accept the QC and this should speed things up a bit. Probably best to use a good swarm cell if you can spare it...
