Queenless Colony

[BeeGees]

The Swarm my brother gave me last week looked Queenless.

I drove up today to grab a frame off him with a Queen cell and ended up with a frame that had 4 sealed Queen cells.

On the 45 minute drive home one of the Queens had emerged and was wandering around the frame, i put the frame into my hive and closed it up quickly.

What do you reckon the chances are of them accepting her ?

BG

 

[Beekeeper Brownie]

Quite high I would think, even if there's another queen in there the new running virgin you've just introduced will likely kill the old one.

 

[madasafish]

The Swarm my brother gave me last week looked Queenless.

I drove up today to grab a frame off him with a Queen cell and ended up with a frame that had 4 sealed Queen cells.

On the 45 minute drive home one of the Queens had emerged and was wandering around the frame, i put the frame into my hive and closed it up quickly.

What do you reckon the chances are of them accepting her ?

BG

She's a virgin in a new colony.

Is the colony Q-? If yes, probably alive.

If no, dead.

 

[BeeGees]

Thanks,

Yes im 99% sure the colony is Q-

Can I hive check later in the week or is it best to leave the hive alone now for a few weeks ?

BG

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A swarm? again, sounds like a cast - VQ's are notoriously difficult to spot.
The only thing they need is peace and quiet from fiddling for a few weeks

 

[enrico]

A swarm? again, sounds like a cast - VQ's are notoriously difficult to spot.
The only thing they need is peace and quiet from fiddling for a few weeks

As above!
E

 

[Swarm]

The Swarm my brother gave me last week looked Queenless.

I drove up today to grab a frame off him with a Queen cell and ended up with a frame that had 4 sealed Queen cells.

On the 45 minute drive home one of the Queens had emerged and was wandering around the frame, i put the frame into my hive and closed it up quickly.

What do you reckon the chances are of them accepting her ?

BG

How?

 

[BeeGees]

A swarm? again, sounds like a cast - VQ's are notoriously difficult to spot.
The only thing they need is peace and quiet from fiddling for a few weeks

Thanks il do that.

How?

No sign of any eggs, could not find her on 3 occasions and then 4 emergency queen cups appeared.

This is all brand new to me, have i done the right thing ?

BG

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

4 emergency queen cups appeared.

were they queen cups (something bees make all the time for a laugh) or were they queen cells with eggs/larvae in?
How much brood was there before you discovered the cells?

 

[Swarm]

No sign of eggs, a cast with a virgin and you will probably find eggs in a couple of weeks. Just hived, best left alone to settle in for a while anyway, definitely no need to be inspecting them just yet.
Presence of play cups, not much concern as there is no sign of eggs.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

The sucess rate of introducing virgins to a colony is not that great.
Of course if the swarm had a virgin in already, she might fly off with half the bees leaving the introduced queencells behind.

 

[BeeGees]

were they queen cups (something bees make all the time for a laugh) or were they queen cells with eggs/larvae in?
How much brood was there before you discovered the cells?

Yes empty queen cups. Theres some brood from my brothers hive in there.

No sign of eggs, a cast with a virgin and you will probably find eggs in a couple of weeks. Just hived, best left alone to settle in for a while anyway, definitely no need to be inspecting them just yet.
Presence of play cups, not much concern as there is no sign of eggs.

Ok thanks, should i have gotten rid of the queen cups/play cups ?

BG

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes empty queen cups. Theres some brood from my brothers hive in there.




Ok thanks, should i have gotten rid of the queen cups/play cups ?

BG

No need

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes empty queen cups. Theres some brood from my brothers hive in there.

BG

So evidence of an unmated queen rather than queenlessness then. the virgin in situ will have 'dealt' with all them queen cells in that vase - and probably the newly emerged queen.