Inexperienced panic...no brood!

[nealeholl]

I'm fairly inexperienced, and at the moment I only have one colony. Thanks in part to the lost weather, and in part to other commitments I haven't been through my colony in a few weeks - just sniffed around the entrance and peeked down through the glass quilt to gauge activity.

Today I had a look, and to my horror I have a reasonable number of bees (light for the time of year, but it's been a crap year!), a reasonable amount of honey (ditto), but NO sign of brood or queen. I couldn't see any sign of QCs (this may be inexperience, but I think I'd know them if I saw them).

Does this mean I may have missed a swarm, or maybe she just snuffed it? Should I re-queen immediately? If so, any advice on where I could get a reliable / docile / productive (Ha Ha!) queen from would be welcome.

 

[Poly Hive]

No brood or eggs and no obvious queen does NOT = queenlessness.

On balance you have lost a swarm or more, and now have a virgin in the hive.

You would be well advised to use a test frame to double check before even thinking of buying a queen as if you try to intro one with out checking you may very well lose her to the resident lass.

PH

 

[nealeholl]

You would be well advised to use a test frame to double check

PH

?? Sorry - don't know what you mean?

 

[kevrhcfag]

It means get a frame of eggs (less than 3 days old) / brood if you can from another beek if no other source and put in hive, if make Queen Cells you are almost certainly Queenless if not then you have a Queen somewhere.

Do a search for "finding the Queen" it may help you.

Our 1st year and they have led us a merry dance aswell. There are a few people on here that supply Queens, depends what you want

 

[Poly Hive]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8643&highlight=test+frame

PH