Queen transplant into egg-laying worker hive

[ugcheleuce]

G'day everyone

I have one hive, and it is a small, struggling one. It was supposed to be thriving by now, but something went wrong and my introduced queen went AWOL before she could start laying eggs, and now I have egg laying workers (with lots and lots of multiple egged cells and even some multilarvae cells).

The hive is really small -- it's a six-framer but there are only three frames with comb on it. Two days ago I removed the one frame (it has capped honey on it and practically no eggs or larvae) and put it in the freezer to kill off any eggs that may have escaped my notice. Tomorrow I'll get a new queen and then I'll put the frozen frame and the new queen into the hive, and shake off the bees from the other frames a few meters away from the hive. I realise that this method has a low chance of success but it is really my only option.

My question is whether you think shaking off the egg laying workers in an apriary is going to be a problem for the other hives. My hive is located in the local beekeeping club's bee stall and there are a few other hives there as well. The other hives are strong.

These bees aren't flying at this time... there is zero activity at the fly opening. In fact, I wonder if the bees will find their way back to the hive if I shake them off only a few metres away from the hive. But that is something I can't worry about.

Should I shut the hive completely for a few days (after most of the bees have returned from the shaking), or should I just keep the hive open (with a very small fly opening)? I will be feeding them sugar water, obviously.

Any other advice you can give me with regard to the shaking off of the bees?

Thanks
Samuel

 

[dickbowyer]

It is very difficult to requeen a hive that has laying workers. Why not just shake the whole lot out, take the hive away and let the few left beg their way into other hives. No risk to other hives as long as your lot are healthy. Still swarms around. Try and bag one of those. Round here you can hardly give them away. All our novices seem to have bought nucs or have been given swarms and you still have plenty of time to get a swarm through the winter.

 

[Walrus]

It is very difficult to requeen a hive that has laying workers. Why not just shake the whole lot out, take the hive away and let the few left beg their way into other hives. No risk to other hives as long as your lot are healthy. Still swarms around. Try and bag one of those. Round here you can hardly give them away. All our novices seem to have bought nucs or have been given swarms and you still have plenty of time to get a swarm through the winter.

They will probably kill the queen but even if they don't you have a tiny colony & aging bees.

 

[ugcheleuce]

They will probably kill the queen but even if they don't you have a tiny colony & aging bees.

I would not be surprised if they kill the new queen, but she was cheap, and this is a learning exercise for me.

Shaking off the bees was quite an experience -- the bees didn't like it and they were buzzing all over me. The bees that could still fly flew back to the hive fairly quickly, whereas the bees that didn't want to fly simply sat there on the ground with sorry eyes.

I didn't get nice photos this time, except one set that shows how bees on a frame can obscure what is under the bees (see attachment).

I'll let you guys know in what state the hive is when I go back in two or three days to put the defrosted frames back.

Samuel

 

[Bosveldleeu]

Looks like quite a weak colony to me you have probably done the right thing.