Leave Queen in Original Location?

[gwt_uk]

Hello all - just planning ahead for splitting a double brood for increase. My initial plan is to use a QE between BBs, leave for a week then split them. I was intending to leave the queen in the original location but have read that it doesn’t really matter? What do you think?

 

[Ian123]

Introducing queens is certainly easier to younger bees imo. So if you can keep the older bees with the original queen then why not.

 

[gwt_uk]

Hello all. I am intending to split this colony at the weekend. Have ordered a queen for the Q- colony she should arrive Friday. Should I just introduce the queen in the normal way? I.e. leave in the queen cage for 24 hours then pull the tab.

 

[Murox]

yes as long as you are satisfied that the colony has accepted her; its usually easier with loads of nurse bees.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

go for it - the sooner you do it after the 'split' the better chance of them accepting her.

 

[Dr. Abe]

It is also good to give frame(s) with brood close to emerging to the new split. This is of the frames you send to the split with the new queen.

It is generally better to have fresh young bees ready to help the new queen in a split (especially a small one) than to have a bunch of larvae that need care and feed. With mature brood new nurse bees that are very loyal to the split will be present in a few days.

I guess leaving the older queen in the original location is what I usually do and it works good. That is also what Richard Bonney recommends in his books.

 

[gwt_uk]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes I am planning on leaving the existing queen in the original location. She seems to be very prolific so I will have to make sure she has enough space after the split as well!

 

[gwt_uk]

Also meant to ask. There are two supers on the colony at the moment. Should these remain with the original hive or should I give one to the split as well?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Also meant to ask. There are two supers on the colony at the moment. Should these remain with the original hive or should I give one to the split as well?

Only if the split hasn’t enough food till foragers get out and there is no nectar to forage. I leave them a whole frame of food and feed if needed.

 

[gwt_uk]

Went ahead with the split today. The queen was in the bottom box so left her where she was. There were no eggs in the top box only sealed brood as expected. However there was what looked like a large queen cell in the top box. It was capped but with a large chunk eaten out of the side of it. It had a larvae in it - wondering if it was a drawn out drone cell? I inspected all other frames in both boxes but could only see a few empty queen cups.