Lots of gentle bees but no brood or queen

[Perry]

My bees made it through the winter just fine and I have brood box full of gentle bees (I can easily inspect with no smoke). There are a lot of stores in the outer frames and some honey in the inner frames, too. I cannot see the queen which doesn't surprise me because I could not find her last year, either. However, I also cannot see any evidence of any laying: no eggs, no larvae, no sealed brood. Just empty cells or cells with honey. Any ideas as to what is going on or what I should do? Is the queen dead?

 

[Polyanwood]

You should beg a test frame from a bee buddy. You need a frame with eggs and unsealed brood (no bees). Wrap the frame in a towel so that it doesn't get too cold or dry out too much. Put it in your hive. If they are queenless they will rear a new queen.

 

[Midland Beek]

That doesn't sound very promising. Are the bees coming to rob a dead hive/do they go home somewhere else at night?

 

[enrico]

There are two things to be done here....go with polyanwood which is good advice or do nothing for another week! Queens DO go off lay, especially when weather conditions confuse the hive. A test frame will help you to make a decision but time and time again in my hives and on this forum you will see that panic sets in when circumstances are just the same as yours, but in a weeks time eggs miraculously appear. If the test frame proves nothing then just be patient. I bet she'll there but just has a headache!!! Good luck
E

 

[biglongdarren]

I had a hive with exactly the same,no eggs brood or larva but very nicely natured,placed a test frame in and they didn't draw any queen cells,the hive had plenty of bees and eventually found the queen,went to squash her and I dropped her back into the hive,this was last week,went up the other evening to find her again and found that she has now started to lay,time will tell if there workers.
Hope all works out for you.
Darren

 

[beeno]

Hi Perry,
No time to lose in my book. Hope you have someone to get a test frame from. With only one colony you cannot afford to wait and see. If you end up with laying workers it will be too risky to unite with someone elses hive and your bees are doomed. My bees were still gentle when hopelessly queenless last autumn. Virgins failed to mate and I ended up with laying workers which make them think they are Q+. All the best.