Queenless hive

[Levitt53]

Update.

I checked the hives yesterday and still no eggs in the main hive so I have given them a test frame from my swarm. My question is should I just leave this now and assume they will sort themselves out either way. OR should I check the test frame in a few days to see if there are any queen cell activity and possibly buy a mated queen to get them going again. Not sure of the procedure if I do option 2 and I suspect I will be advised to follow option 1. There are still lots of bees there. Lots of pollen has been stored previously although not a lot of fresh pollen going in now.

The history and timings are in my first post.

Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Update.

I checked the hives yesterday and still no eggs in the main hive so I have given them a test frame from my swarm. My question is should I just leave this now and assume they will sort themselves out either way. OR should I check the test frame in a few days to see if there are any queen cell activity and possibly buy a mated queen to get them going again. Not sure of the procedure if I do option 2 and I suspect I will be advised to follow option 1. There are still lots of bees there. Lots of pollen has been stored previously although not a lot of fresh pollen going in now.

The history and timings are in my first post.

Any thoughts? Thanks

Personally, if there are EQCs, I would wait till they were sealed then take the frame back out with bees, some extra bees shaken and a frame of all that pollen and one of stores plus empty frames, all into a nuc to raise a new Q and merge the rest with the swarm (you could position the nuc to catch stragglers, in which case shaking in extra bees might be overkill).

That sorts out demographics, which will eventually be a problem, and gives a strong foraging unit.

A less interventionist approach would be just to let them raise a new Q.

No EQCs and you probably have to let them get on with it, inspecting and feeding brood every couple of weeks to see what's going on. I am impatient and would sieve them at some stage -- but not yet -- to be sure.

 

[Levitt53]

Thanks. That sounds a good solution. I am very keen to keep two hives as I've learnt the advantage of not just having the one.

 

[maddydog]

If it was me I'd put in a test frame and check five days later. If they've built EQC then take the lady who sold you the duff colony up on her offer and introduce a mated q asap.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If it was me I'd put in a test frame and check five days later. If they've built EQC then take the lady who sold you the duff colony up on her offer and introduce a mated q asap.

 

[Levitt53]

Any advice about the best places/websites to get mated queens from? Or also what to avoid? I put the test frame in on Sunday or I'll talk to her at the weekend.