Drone Laying Queen - what to do

[ROACHMAN]

Inspected my hives today, all look great apart from the last one I inspected.

This hive had only drone brood with some drones already hatched.

Whats my best option to resolve the problem?

Ideally I would re queen but I dont think I can get one this early in the season.

I could kill the dud queen and put a frame of eggs from another hive. The new queen would emerge mid April but will she sucessfully mate this early?

Can the worker bees differenciate between fertilised eggs ans unfertitised eggs when selecting ab egg to make a queen ?

I could wait until I can buy in a queen but the colony might have died out by then.

James

 

[Mike101]

Best bet this early in the season is to remove DLQ and unite with queenright colony.

You can split to increase later in the year.

 

[drstitson]

unite while you still have a decent strength of winter/nurse bees left and then make a split later in the season.

the longer you wait the less use the dwindling worker population will be.

 

[ROACHMAN]

Thanks for that.

Can I get away with uniting this colony with another weak colony at my out apiary which is only 1 mile away ?

 

[ROACHMAN]

If I unite this time of year, due to the lower temperatures the bees probably dont forage too far from the hive therefore does the 3 mile rule apply ?

 

[Finman]

.
Yes, join the bees. They are old and will not live long.

Shake the bees in front of entance of that weak hive. Don't give the drone frames.
Take that drone layer off on previous day

 

[ROACHMAN]

Thanks Finman but does it matter that the weak hive is within 3 miles away ??

 

[Midland Beek]

NB You cannot unite these bees unless you kill the duff queen first. Put a good queen up against a duff queen and Sod's Law says that the good queen will be killed. DLQ's can be undersize, making their finding very difficult.

A mile away at this time of the season would not stop me from uniting, but I would move the duff colony and not the good one. However, I would only unite if there is a colony at your home apiary into which the 'lost' bees could go.

What point in splitting your bees in two locations separated by only 1 mile?

Comb that the DLQ has laid in will have to be scrapped.

 

[Peaches]

Roachman,

I have found that when the worker bees find the queen gone for what ever reason and there are no eggs or 1-3 day old larvae, then one or more workers will start eating royal jelly to get their overies developed, they will start laying unfertilized eggs. I have reason to believe there will be multiple drone layers in that hive.

What I do is take the bees out about 25 to 50 meters and dump them onto the ground. Put the hive back in the original location. The real workers will find their way back to the hive location. Maybe some of the drone layers, but not all, might find their way back too. However when the majority of the bees are back home, combine them with another hive. The drone layers in the hive will be ran out or killed. The rest of the drone layers will be denied entrance.

I am quite sure that the UK is still colder than Florida USA so you will have to wait for your new queens. I can get queens now as it has been warm for some months. Good luck.

 

[Midland Beek]

I have found that when the worker bees find the queen gone for what ever reason and there are no eggs or 1-3 day old larvae, then one or more workers will start eating royal jelly to get their overies developed, they will start laying unfertilized eggs. I have reason to believe there will be multiple drone layers in that hive. .

Whether there is a queen in a colony or not you will find that there are always a few workers that are capable of laying (unfertilized, of course) eggs.

 

[Finman]

.
Discussion goes again too complex.
Move the bees that 1,5 miles and shake them in front of hive. Shaking makes them uncertain because they loose their home. Then they find a new home and start to exrecete the odor of nasonov gland. It prevents the other bees attack on new comers.

You may give couple of blows smoke but it is not necessary.

 

[ROACHMAN]

NB You cannot unite these bees unless you kill the duff queen first. Put a good queen up against a duff queen and Sod's Law says that the good queen will be killed. DLQ's can be undersize, making their finding very difficult.

A mile away at this time of the season would not stop me from uniting, but I would move the duff colony and not the good one. However, I would only unite if there is a colony at your home apiary into which the 'lost' bees could go.

What point in splitting your bees in two locations separated by only 1 mile?

Comb that the DLQ has laid in will have to be scrapped.

The reason why my locations are only 1 mile apart is that I have 4 colonies in my garden - I do not want 8 in my garden as although I live in the middle of nowhere, I do have a neighbour.

I own a field a mile away and that is where I keep my other 4, although its under 3 miles away it isnt ideal but a least I own it so I am in total control of it and I wont get some farmer telling me to move the hives half way through the season or livestock interfering with them.