I think I have a mated queen under my mesh floor, what do I do?

[Sunjunkie]

HELP!

Hi all, be gentle with me, I've had a rough week!

Over the last 4 weeks one of the nucs I built up in the spring has become increasingly agressive, culminating in chasing & stinging my elderly dog & my non bee enthusiast husband. The queen I'm afraid had to be overthrown. I moved the hive late on Saturday evening & put a dummy in its place. On Sunday morning, I spent too long serarching out the old queen which unbeknown to me, attracted some unwanted attention.

By late afternoon, my Other 'young' hive was well & truly under attack. two days later, several wet sheets & a robber screen later, me & my girls have the robbers under control (I think) & then, no.... disaster, a large cluster of bees under the hive. I'm fairly sure that my new supercedure queen from that hive went out to mate today & couldn't make her way back through the screen & or the robbers.

So, in normal circumstances I'd take the hive apart & then 'pursuede' her & her chaperones into the hive, but my girls are understandably defensive.. And ok, I'm a little intimidated.. Any advice please?

 

[Amari]

Sorry, I've had a (large) glass of wine so I'm having difficulty understanding your post. Do you have a local mentor? A repeatedly aggressive colony needs culling - or at least its Q.

 

[enrico]

There is little you can do but get dressed for action, double layers if necessary. And get the new queen into the hive. You seem to know what you are doing going by what you have written about what you have done so far. Be brave and put on the 'bomb proof suit' and go for it.
The only other option is to move the colony to another location until it has quietened down, but that may not be possible.
If you have a 'bee mate' locally then it always seems easier if two of you are doing it!
Have you considered buying a mated queen in? Or even combining the q minus colony with a quieter queen plus one?
Let me know how you get on
Good luck.... Oh, and welcome to the forum!
E

 

[Sunjunkie]

Thank you enrico! Big girl bee keeping suit it is then... Gulp!

 

[Sunjunkie]

Beheaded her on saturday. Having the hve open while I found her attracted the robbers.. A good wine I hope?

 

[Amari]

Beheaded her on saturday. Having the hve open while I found her attracted the robbers.. A good wine I hope?

Yes, Lidl plonk

 

[BeeJayBee]

You could offer the bees under the hive a frame that's previously contained brood. They will probably walk onto it.

 

[Sunjunkie]

You could offer the bees under the hive a frame that's previously contained brood. They will probably walk onto it.

Oh, now that's anice idea, I'll give it a go. Thank you!

 

[Sunjunkie]

Thank you!

Well, I was lucky. A couple of Master Beekeepers from my local club offered to drop in on their way to a Garden meeting & rescued this damsel in distress!

My returning supercedure queen turned out to be a good size virgin with a swarm who had holed up under the hive.

One sheet, a Queen cage & a new floor later & we had hived all the swarm bees bar one.

The virgin queen then had a 7 second swim in a cup of warm water before we ran her into my queenless colony.. Phew.

Whenever I watch these guys work I'm just in awe...