Guidance /advice welcome please

[thebhoy]

Following on from my last post I would welcome some 'guidance' from the experienced beeks.

As my bees and queen are now back in their original hive after today's swarm should I...

Leave as is until next inspection...

Add a new BB with all new foundation and demaree the existing box above two or three supers with queen in new box under a QE

Don't really want to start up another colony but am open to all suggestions / advice on next step .... I will be going on holiday in two weeks and would like to get them settled down as have been swarmy all season.

Perhaps requeening may be an option

 

[Cazza]

I think you may need to précis your last post. The back story is needed as those of us with a brain the size of a pea have no idea where your queen has been and what the state of the hive is/was.

Cazza

 

[thebhoy]

Hi Cazza,

have a swarmy hive.....with clipped queen.
They tried to swarm yesterday...or rather they did swarm and the queen got about 3ft from hive, and bees 3 gardens away at top of a tree, I picked her up and put her back at hive and in she went with rest of bees eventually following over next half hour.

I am going to follow Rab's advice.....take the queen out with a frame of brood and nurse bees and put into another hive/ nuc.

Following that I will take a frame of eggs from another hive with a Buckfast queen and put them into the original hive hoping they raise QC's from that.

I will knock down any /all other QC's on other frames once they have been formed and reduce to one good one on desired stock frame

Best laid plans will probably go awry anyway but need to try.

 

[Cazza]

Hi Cazza,


Best laid plans will probably go awry anyway but need to try.

Sounds like a good plan.

My best laid plans often go wrong. Last week I united a BB with laying queen with good temperament to a BB with the bitch bees from hell (queenless after squishing.) This week I checked and I think the queen is no more. Aaargh. So annoying.
Cazza

 

[YorkshireBees]

...
I am going to follow Rab's advice.....take the queen out with a frame of brood and nurse bees and put into another hive/ nuc.

Following that I will take a frame of eggs from another hive with a Buckfast queen and put them into the original hive hoping they raise QC's from that.

I will knock down any /all other QC's on other frames once they have been formed and reduce to one good one on desired stock frame
...

If you want to ensure that they raise a queen from the frame of eggs from another hive, remove the queen as you have described and then wait until they cannot make any more queencells from the existing eggs / lavae.
After having removed all queencells then add the frame of eggs / young lavae from the other hive.

I have used this technique in the past to re-queen aggressive bees, only difference was that I removed the original queen permanently!

 

[thebhoy]

All done......and what a mare in this heat, in London.

Couldn't find queen on first search through frames, bees very active lol, one frame slipped...or rather..got stuck to glove as it had quite a bit of propolis (the frame) and bees ended up on floor etc. Learned to swear again at my carelessness. Thought queen may have been on that and had gone under hive so ended up lying on ground trying to see if they were under....luckily not.

Found her on next search, moved frame to new hive, added another two frames...one with capped brood and one with nectar and then a third with foundation, shook in another couple of frames of bees.

Will give it another few days for the original hive to settle, draw QC's, allow other eggs to hatch then knock down qc's and add the frame from the other hive. This should give me about a week for new qc's to start, select the best and knock down other before I go on holiday.........