I bought a colony back in June that seemed to be doing well but then August arrived and my queen stopped laying when I checked at the end of the month. I’ve just checked the hive, there seems to be lots of supplies and bees but I didn’t see the queen, but spotted 4 queen cells, so I presume she’s failed. My question is this; will a new queen emerge at this time of year and will she have time to mate before the winter ? Many thanks in advance for your answers.
New Queen this time in the season
- Thread starter Mumph
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Chances are very much slimmer then 2 or 3 weeks ago for a mating , if you have drones you may get lucky.
Yes queens will emerge still , the likely hood though is she will not get mated or if she does will end up as a drone layer before you get to them in spring.
The old queen may likely still be in situ and simply not performing well or is lacking pheromones, she may contiue if alive and help see them thru if they keep her and the new queen.
Give them a feed of syrup and hope the old Q is there and starts laying again.
Yes queens will emerge still , the likely hood though is she will not get mated or if she does will end up as a drone layer before you get to them in spring.
The old queen may likely still be in situ and simply not performing well or is lacking pheromones, she may contiue if alive and help see them thru if they keep her and the new queen.
Give them a feed of syrup and hope the old Q is there and starts laying again.
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They could be historic, abandoned, or empty after virgins emerged but cells were then re-sealed by bees.
Do you have a photo?
How regularly do you check brood box combs?
No.
