Queenless hive?

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

frenchbees

New Bee
Joined
Aug 1, 2010
Messages
53
Reaction score
0
Location
Normandy, France
Hive Type
Dadant
Number of Hives
3
I collected my first hive at the beginning of June. On 2 July they swarmed and I was unable to capture them.
5 July I removed all but 2 closed Queen cells.
17 July the Queen cells I had left were gone, the cells in the central frames were empty and the closed cells on the outer frames looked old, there were small (emergency?) queen cells high on the frames.
19 and 24 July there were a lot of drones flying, I hoped this was a mating flight.
29 July I couldn't see any eggs or larvae but some cells with pollen and some with honey. Small Queen cells still there.
30 July drones flying again.
I think the hive must be Queenless and possibly the drones were taking cleansing flights?
How do you distinguish a mating flight from a cleansing flight?
Should I attempt to re Queen or allow more time and look for eggs again?
The bees are still very placid
 
The real clue is the bees are placid.

Allow a good 21 days from emergence for a mated queen.

Sealed cells on the fifth gives emergence from the 5th to the 13th. Take your pick and add three weeks.

Patience is the key here. Hard as it may be...

PH
 
I've got almost exactly the same scenario (except I caught and rehived the swarm). I'm going back in tomorrow; fingers crossed.
 
Bear in mind the recent weather and if you have the ability to check with a test frame then do to put your mind(s) at rest as to the situation.

PH
 
The real clue is the bees are placid.

Allow a good 21 days from emergence for a mated queen.

Sealed cells on the fifth gives emergence from the 5th to the 13th. Take your pick and add three weeks.

Patience is the key here. Hard as it may be...

PH

definitely. I had a similar situation and a laying worker. 1 month on i have good sealed brood, eggs and larvae. Bees not so placid but improving. Think my queen was a bit shy!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top