Cuddly Bear
New Bee
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2011
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Oxford
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 11
I had a strong colony with an unmarked and unclipped 2013 queen that had overwintered on a brood and a half. On 3rd May I conducted as Pagden A/S which went well with the queen on a frame of brood going into a new box on the site of the original with the remaining frames being foundation, a full super was put on top for food separated by QE. I inspected two days later to double check I hadn't missed any queen cells and found two new charged Q cells which I removed. I didn't see HM or eggs at this inspection, but was not concerned as there was no space to lay on the old brood frame and new foundation had yet to be drawn.
On 10th May conducted inspection of BB, lots of bees, but no eggs seen and no sight of HM. As colony had lots of bees I decided against the second hive move.
On 17th May conducted another inspection of BB, still no eggs or HM. I went through Super to see if she had sneaked through the QE - super was full of honey and no sign of HM or eggs. All brood by this time had been sealed.
On 19th May I put a test frame in with fresh eggs and open brood from a strong colony.
26th May, much to my puzzlement there were no Q cells on test frame - eggs were viable as young brood seen. I went through colony and there was no sign of HM or eggs, or laying worker eggs. They have drawn the foundation and filling it with pollen and nectar and there are clear patches of empty brood frame in the centre of the hive.
So no Q cells mean the bees think they are queen right. Therefore either the queen is hiding there somewhere and isn't laying, or there are laying workers and the house bees are still clearing out their eggs before I see them.
I have put another super of foundation on above the QE to give the bees more space and also on the off chance that HM is hiding in the super and needs some space to lay.
Another suggestion is that the original queen died or flew off with some of the flying bees shortly after A/S. However, the new queen from the parent colony (next door) went out on her mating flight and returned to the wrong hive, which being queenless accepted her in and she hasn't started laying yet.
My concern is how long can I wait before laying workers develop, if they haven't already, before introducing a new queen? And will I have enough time to use a queen from one of the nucs I created on 3rd May?
Any other thoughts??
On 10th May conducted inspection of BB, lots of bees, but no eggs seen and no sight of HM. As colony had lots of bees I decided against the second hive move.
On 17th May conducted another inspection of BB, still no eggs or HM. I went through Super to see if she had sneaked through the QE - super was full of honey and no sign of HM or eggs. All brood by this time had been sealed.
On 19th May I put a test frame in with fresh eggs and open brood from a strong colony.
26th May, much to my puzzlement there were no Q cells on test frame - eggs were viable as young brood seen. I went through colony and there was no sign of HM or eggs, or laying worker eggs. They have drawn the foundation and filling it with pollen and nectar and there are clear patches of empty brood frame in the centre of the hive.
So no Q cells mean the bees think they are queen right. Therefore either the queen is hiding there somewhere and isn't laying, or there are laying workers and the house bees are still clearing out their eggs before I see them.
I have put another super of foundation on above the QE to give the bees more space and also on the off chance that HM is hiding in the super and needs some space to lay.
Another suggestion is that the original queen died or flew off with some of the flying bees shortly after A/S. However, the new queen from the parent colony (next door) went out on her mating flight and returned to the wrong hive, which being queenless accepted her in and she hasn't started laying yet.
My concern is how long can I wait before laying workers develop, if they haven't already, before introducing a new queen? And will I have enough time to use a queen from one of the nucs I created on 3rd May?
Any other thoughts??