Help. DLQ Or LW

[drex]

I have one hive outside my apiary and that is at my friends animal sanctuary. This hive is not inspected that often due to the people and animals about . Last opened about 10 days ago and they were vicious, particularly attacking the Llamas, so closed up quick, after establishing no brood in brood boxes.
I had a look this afternoon when nobody about and the animals were in stables. No brood in BB's, drone brood up in supers ( 4 of them on). Bad light so I could not see eggs, but laid in a fairly consolidated pattern, so I thought DLQ. However then thinking about it, the queens thorax size would not change whether she was fertile or not, so unLikely to have gone through excluder ( and never has done so in past), so my feeling is DLW's.
In my own apiary I would just shake them out but there are no other hives at this site to beg their way in. To make matters worse they are in the one and only WBC I have, with little spare kit.
I am thinking of taking over a nucs with a new queen who has recently come into lay. I would transfer the nucs into a national hive having boosted it with a few frames of soon to emerge brood from my hives.
I would shake the WBC out in front of this and remove the WBC. Any useful frames from the WBC could go into national boxes on top of the new national brood.
My friends at the sanctuary are desperate to keep a hive over there, and this is the best way I can think of doing it.
Once all has settled I can transfer the frames back into the WBC -" it looks so pretty".
I think this will work, but does anyone have any better ideas?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Your nuc is likely to be overwhelmed. I wouldn’t do it. Take it away and either shake it out at your apiary or split into three or four and unite each split to somewhere?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Your nuc is likely to be overwhelmed. I wouldn’t do it. Take it away and either shake it out at your apiary or split into three or four and unite each split to somewhere?

especially with the aggressiveness of the bees you're on to a loser trying to unite a nuc to a powerful colony of laying workers.

 

[drex]

Thanks both. It would be a total of 6 flimsy WBC boxes to move, and having to barrow them about 400 yards at the sanctuary, which is what put me off bringing them home in the first place. I also only have one WBC crown board to cover them with.
I think I will risk taking over one of my established colonies. I wanted to cut down my numbers at home anyway.
If it all fails I will give my friends an over wintered nucs next spring.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Agree with @Erichalfbee and @jenkinsbrynmair : the nuc would be toast. I would take the nuc up as a separate (and somewhat distant) colony and gradually add frames from the suspect colony. Half-shaken and one at a time should be fine initially. As you proceed you could get more ambitious with newspaper and full boxes but be cautious and patient. Old flyers last. It is August, but there is still time. Ocimene (see this thread An odd one: VQ + LW) might help and as the Q+colony expands you could try frames of brood into the drone colony as well: you may get lucky and get EQCs and again there is just time. Good luck.
<ADD>Explain to your friends that one colony at a site is not a great idea. You really need two, for exactly this situation.</ADD>

 

[tonyofarr]

I would check the supers just to be sure there is not a DLQ in there. I have been having trouble with a queen getting into my supers and laying in loads of the frames; she was a bit skinny so I replaced her with a huge queen and put on a new QX. Two weeks after introduction I find the new queen laying in the supers and only 1 frame of brood in the brood box.

 

[Boston Bees]

<ADD>Explain to your friends that one colony at a site is not a great idea. You really need two, for exactly this situation

Or, to be honest, probably none given the presence of Llamas.... I wouldn't keep a hive at a livery yard, for example

 

[drex]

The owner of the sanctuary always puts her animals first. If she saw the bees as a problem they would go. It was her request in the first place, and has been no problem for the year since they were installed. The llamas were moved a good distance as soon as it was spotted that the bees were angry.
It is a lot of work for one extra colony and would be easier for me if they were not there.

 

[drex]

I would check the supers just to be sure there is not a DLQ in there. I have been having trouble with a queen getting into my supers and laying in loads of the frames; she was a bit skinny so I replaced her with a huge queen and put on a new QX. Two weeks after introduction I find the new queen laying in the supers and only 1 frame of brood in the brood box.

As per my first post I was not sure, but on balance have come down with DLW. Shaking them out is the only way forward to be sure.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I would be inclined to move 'em to your main apiary - shrink them down into less boxes a little if easier to move. Divide and conquer:- Site them next to a strong hive. After a couple of days so they have reorientated, move them so the flyers return to the strong colony. A couple of days later the supers can be put on other colonies (need National boxes first of course). and you can put the brood box on top of a strong colony too.
Two strips of 6mm wood on the inside of two parallel sides of the rim of a national crown board will work as a WBC crown board and you can continue to use it as a National one afterwards - if you are short of crownboards for the move.

And then clean the WBC and put the Nuc in it with the llamas.

It all sounds so easy!

 

[drex]

Have settled on a compromise, after taking on board the advice given. Stage 1 today.
Drove some bees down into the double brood from the supers and have brought the broods home to my apiary and shaken them out.
Stage 2 tomorrow, I will take a full strong colony, which I boosted with soon to emerge brood over to the sanctuary and will risk a paper unite of the remaining supers, after transferring the frames from my National into the WBC broods. I would prefer to do a shakeout of the remaining supers but there were a lot of angry bees in the air today and I do not want to repeat that. There were no people or animals close today and will ensure it is same tomorrow .

 

[drex]

All went better than I expected . Very few bees in the air and only a couple of stings. I will check on the queen in a few days. Thanks all.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Lots of options with beekeeping! 'Hope it works and with luck the bad tempered bees will behave better with a decent queen.