Moved hive, no queen - advice

[Mwsedgwick]

Hi

Took delivery of first hive last week - hive approx 2 years old from decent pedigree.

We had thought the queen was present but upon checking last week no sign of queen, brood or eggs. Checked again yesterday and still no sign - a few queen cups but no sign of any improvements (lots of drones present gorging on stores). Bees seem happy enough but obviously lacking a queen.

Shall I wait another week to see if they sort themselves out or introduce a new queen? Conscious the weather is awful this week so want to make sure they survive.

In terms of why the queen wasn't in the hive - we think they may have swarmed prior to the move then the queen could have been out mating when we moved the hive to a new location!!! Bad luck I suppose.

Appreciate any help/comments

Thanks

 

[Murox]

Have a chat with the supplier, see if you can get a test frame to put in from them or elsewhere.

 

[enrico]

A frame of eggs from anywhere would be good
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

no point wasting money on a new queen until you are certain they are queenless. A test frame is your first step

 

[drex]

With the poor weather here recently, several of my queens have gone off lay. As above, you need a test frame to be sure.

 

[Adam Bee]

What are you looking for with a ‘test frame’?

 

[madasafish]

A test frame serves several purposes:

1. If the hive is queenless and there are eggs/young larvae on the frame the bees will start drawing Queen Cells - on the frame you inserted - which should be obvious within a couple of days. (so mark the frame with a pin/pen to recognise it)

2. If the hive is not queenless, they will not.

3. If the hive is not queenless but has a just mated queen which is not laying then it may prompt the queen into starting laying.

BUT
If you have no queen but laying workers caused by no queen it probably will not work and the workers will continue to lay.

AND
1 above does not work 100% of the time...

 

[Welshboyarchrr]

I agree with all the above advice, but it is worth pointing out that if they are queenless, and have no eggs/larvae young enough it will be impossible for them to sort themselves out.

 

[Mwsedgwick]

Thanks for the messages. I've not been able to open the hive up because of the bad weather - hoping too this weekend.

Think we will be introducing a new queen asap.

How long will the bees last without a queen? They have plenty of stores and syrup feed.

 

[drex]

Bees will go on with their natural life span even if queen less. If queen less ( or no queen in waiting) for more than a couple of weeks you may get laying workers. the likelihood is lessened by adding a frame of brood each week.
Rather than anticipating the need for a new queen, wait for the result of a test frame. Introduce a new bought in queen when you have a queen already in there, could mean she is killed and your money wasted. Patience is a necessity in bee keeping

 

[thedozzer]

--

 

[thedozzer]

With the poor weather here recently, several of my queens have gone off lay. As above, you need a test frame to be sure.

thanks for posting that, glad we are not the only ones, our original queen has slowed right down, we thought we had lost her, but there are eggs & larvae but not as many as a few weeks back.

A test frame serves several purposes:

1. If the hive is queenless and there are eggs/young larvae on the frame the bees will start drawing Queen Cells - on the frame you inserted - which should be obvious within a couple of days. (so mark the frame with a pin/pen to recognise it)

2. If the hive is not queenless, they will not.

3. If the hive is not queenless but has a just mated queen which is not laying then it may prompt the queen into starting laying.

BUT
If you have no queen but laying workers caused by no queen it probably will not work and the workers will continue to lay.

AND
1 above does not work 100% of the time...

We had a queenless hive with laying workers, but it took 3 frames of eggs before they produced Queen cells, and from what little i have learned, this is quite common for it to take more than one test frame over several weeks.
So to the OP don't give it, its quite frustrating this beekeeping lark, but very rewarding when you fix something.

 

[Mwsedgwick]

Hi all

Managed to do a quick inspection today between showers. Bees not very happy at all - stinging and lining up etc.

I do have brood however - looks like just drone brood.

Do you think I have a drone laying queen or worker bees are laying drones?

Brood pattern fairly normal but does look like just drones - will check properly again tomorrow and take some pics.

 

[eltalia]

Hi all

Managed to do a quick inspection today between showers. Bees not very happy at all - stinging and lining up etc.

I do have brood however - looks like just drone brood.

Do you think I have a drone laying queen or worker bees are laying drones?

Brood pattern fairly normal but does look like just drones - will check properly again tomorrow and take some pics.

Pix will clinch it. High res of cells with eggs and a couple of frame landscape.

Bill

 

[Poly Hive]

If there is a virgin in there which is very possible your bonny expensive queen will be toast as will your dosh.

You need to TEST first please. Knowledge is both power and a money saver.

PH

 

[Mwsedgwick]

Panic over i think - see pics

Freshly laid eggs and decent brood pattern. I didn't see the queen but obvs she is laying lots of eggs. Still lots of drones though.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Curly green fingers]

Panic over i think - see pics

Freshly laid eggs and decent brood pattern. I didn't see the queen but obvs she is laying lots of eggs. Still lots of drones though.

Let me know what you think.

Looks good to me that's not that much drone brood .
Do they have enough stores I'm feeding 1:1 syrup to some colony's .

 

[Murox]

Panic over i think - see pics

Freshly laid eggs and decent brood pattern. I didn't see the queen but obvs she is laying lots of eggs. Still lots of drones though.

Let me know what you think.

Pictures look well enough. Don't worry about drones their time is coming .
~"Patience isn't just a virtue, its an ingredient."~