Dealing with brood frames full of random drone cells

[E&MBees]

Disaster!

The queen hasn’t come up trumps. It’s definitely still a LW colony. They have a good amount of stores and some very nicely drawn foundation. Is my best bet to leave the hive as it is as they will guard the stores UNTIL I manage to get a new queen? I would like to be able to use the stores and drawn foundation for the queen and colony.

I would also like to be able to put the new queen and her colony where the LW colony is now, as this is the best layout for the apiary.

Therefore:

If I shake out the hive when the queen is ordered, remove it whilst she is in the post and then put a nuc back in its place when she arrives, will that be enough time to ensure that the LW’s have begged board and lodgings in the other queen right hive?

What is the best time of day to shake out a hive?

The queenright hive has one partial frame left to fill and then it is full. Would it be worth adding the second brood box onto that hive to give her more space?

So many questions, sorry!

Many thanks,
Emily

I’ve added this on from another post I’ve written.

I need to purchase a queen, to replace a colony that has become full of laying workers. This will be shaken out. The original queen swarmed at Easter and is now established in another hive in the apiary. The queen that emerged in the parent hive following the swarm did not succeed. I have tried adding eggs from the queen right colony, but this has failed too.

I would like to establish a new colony so that I have two going into the winter.

What should I be considering when I buy queen? I have looked at some websites, and the possibilities are endless. Some places seem to import queens, others are UK breeders.

Temperament is important, they are in my garden currently. I would like some honey, but I’m not ready to consider things like queen breeding etc yet.

 

[pargyle]

As I said earlier "As for buying in a queen ... oh my .. that's a whole new contentious subject. Me ? I only ever buy in British reared queens .. I don't buy many but over the years I've had queens from Exmoor Bees, Ged Marshall, Beckys Bees and Jon Getty .. and I hope, in the near future, to have one coming from Ceri Morgan who has very nice small black bees. I have been pleased with all of them over the years ... I'm just interested in the different characteristics they provide when compared to my local mongrels."

What should you look for - Primarily bees that are good natured and easy to handle - outside of that .. any positive traits are a bonus.

 

[pargyle]

Hi Emly,

The sooner the better to shake out your laying worker colony. Remove the hive they were in and put it somewhere well away from your apiary and seal it up (I use aluminiunm tape which I find is best .. but anything that blocks the entrance will do). As long as the hive is sealed it won't get robbed and you can use the frames of stores in due course. The capped drones may emerge if the weather stays warm but if it's only for a few days it's not going to make much difference - they may survive in the sealed box.

Yes, you can use the space where the former hive was .. after a day or two there aren't going to be any bees homed in on it.

 

[E&MBees]

Hi Emly,

The sooner the better to shake out your laying worker colony. Remove the hive they were in and put it somewhere well away from your apiary and seal it up (I use aluminiunm tape which I find is best .. but anything that blocks the entrance will do). As long as the hive is sealed it won't get robbed and you can use the frames of stores in due course. The capped drones may emerge if the weather stays warm but if it's only for a few days it's not going to make much difference - they may survive in the sealed box.

Yes, you can use the space where the former hive was .. after a day or two there aren't going to be any bees homed in on it.

Thanks for the help Pargyle. I will sort them out and start afresh.