Imminent Swarm - what can I do urgently?

[ericbeaumont]

end up re-queening all the hives.

What has persuaded you to consider requeening?

 

[Twin4Me]

When I get back from holiday I will see how my main hive is doing as the new queen should have mated. If she seems productive then I will leave her alone, but if she failed to mate or return to the hive then I would have a queen less hive.

I have a pretty unproductive hive (which was a swarm I was given last year) and also the swarm I just collected (which came from a colony of bees that had been living in a house chimney for 20 years). I was considering buying new queens for both of these hives as I'm not sure on the qualities of these two queens.

 

[Mint Bee]

Worth giving the swarm queen a chance. Some swarms I've collected locally have been excellent, some have been awful both in terms of temperament and productivity and need re-queening. However, if they are any good, you could always combine with the small hive to save buying in a queen

 

[Twin4Me]

Thanks, Yes I had also considered that as an option if the small hive doesn't pick up.

 

[ericbeaumont]

not sure on the qualities of these two queens.

Yes, good plan to assess performance for a while, before reaching for the debit card.

 

[Twin4Me]

I checked my hives again on Saturday. The main hive still has a lot of bees, no new larvae or eggs so I’ll assume no queen. The large queen cell we identified is still present but not yet hatched. I found another queen cell and removed it and then sealed it all up.

The swarm hive is working hard, used all the syrup I’d added so I refilled that and added some fondant. Not sign of brood or eggs but they bees are busy repairing the old comb I’d given them.

I’ll check again when I get back from holiday and see ‘what’s occuring’