How long to wait?

[ShinySideUp]

Last Wednesday the SDI came round and we went through the hives. One was queenless it appeared so he said to wait until Sunday and then put in a test frame. Found no eggs so did as asked.

Question for this hive: When should I look in to see what is happening with the test frame?

The second hive we went through had pretty feisty genes so we culled the queen as there were some queen cells almost ready. We took them down to two cells and the SDI said to go through again today (four days later) and take down any new queen cells -- there were at least twenty five! The two original cells are still there and unhatched,

Questions for this second hive: Do I just leave this hive for a few weeks now as I believe there is nothing else I can do for now?

How long should I wait to see if I have a new queen?

 

[mickbees23]

If the second hive was feisty where did the test frame of eggs come from for the first hive ?

I would give a test frame 24 / 48 hours, if no queen cells then remove it as it may delay a new queen laying, although not always as I may have just discovered.

Cheers, Mick

 

[enrico]

Be careful here, as Mick says you could end up with fiesty genes in both hives!
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

No point culling a feisty queen then allowing the bees to raise an emergency queen from the same genes - he should have left the queen alone, then you could have requeened properly. Now, you have to ensure the colony is hopelessly queenless and introduce a new queen from different stock.

 

[ShinySideUp]

No, the test frame came from a very gentle nuc.

The queen in the feisty hive was entering her third year so was culled as a matter of prudence. It's very strange but when I went into the hive four days after the culling the bees had calmed down considerably and at present are not a cause for concern. The SBI said they were likely to be quite angry but quite the opposite. I really have to teach the bees to read so they can RTBM!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I would give a test frame 24 / 48 hours, if no queen cells then remove it as it may delay a new queen laying,

Cheers, Mick

I’ve never heard of this
Often the introduction of a test frame actually kick starts a reluctant new queen

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I would give a test frame 24 / 48 hours, if no queen cells then remove it as it may delay a new queen laying, although not always as I may have just discovered.

Cheers, Mick

There is no reason why it should delay a new queen laying. There is a myth that a new queen won't lay until all the brood has emerged.
It IS the case, however, that a young queen will start to lay earlier in a small hive than a large one. So mini-nuc queens will lay 2 or 3 days after mating. A queen may wait much longer in a big hive. Maybe that's where the myth came from. (Note that Yates' study notes say that a queen will start to lay sooner in a big hive - wrong!)

 

[Swarm]

No, the test frame came from a very gentle nuc.

The queen in the feisty hive was entering her third year so was culled as a matter of prudence. It's very strange but when I went into the hive four days after the culling the bees had calmed down considerably and at present are not a cause for concern. The SBI said they were likely to be quite angry but quite the opposite. I really have to teach the bees to read so they can RTBM!

The only problem you have now is the wait, Summer will be over.

 

[ShinySideUp]

The only problem you have now is the wait, Summer will be over.

I have no problem with food for them. There are three supers on the hive at the moment and two of them are full and ready for harvest the third super is partially filled and is for the bees and when the time comes I will put it underneath as I did last year. There is plenty of brood in the hive from the old queen so I'm not going to be short of bees. My only worry is to lose the queen during mating, it is such a worrying time generally as it seems to me ther are so many things that can go wrong while the virgin is out drone hunting.

The other queenless hive in my post had just such a problem, there was definitely a hatched queen cell and if my test frame proves her non-existence then something went gone wrong with the mating flight,