re-queen but cant find the old queen

[MELI]

I need to re-queen my hive for two reasons; the hive is very aggressive and the queen is at least two years old. But I can not find the old queen amongst all the other bees; the hive is well matured with a lot of bees; how can I re-queen it while the old queen is there somewhere please?

I have two hives; one is friendly but the other one is extremely aggressive; when i go near it, I get at least 20 stings on my bee suit.

 

[the naked beekeeper]

I need to re-queen my hive for two reasons; the hive is very aggressive and the queen is at least two years old. But I can not find the old queen amongst all the other bees; the hive is well matured with a lot of bees; how can I re-queen it while the old queen is there somewhere please?

I have two hives; one is friendly but the other one is extremely aggressive; when i go near it, I get at least 20 stings on my bee suit.

Are you sure it has a queen?

When was the last time you saw eggs?

 

[oliver90owner]

how can I re-queen it while the old queen is there somewhere please?


With great difficulty - you can't. Find the queen and remove as the first step to re-queening.

Next question?

RAB

Welcome to the forum, btw.

 

[MELI]

I pressume there is a queen;I have seen eggs about six weeks ago; but they have always been aggressive.

 

[stubee]

Meli if you put in your location, not just the UK you my find a willing beekeeper in your area who could help I would willing if you are near me cheers Stubee

 

[MELI]

My location is Berkshire

 

[huntsman666]

A bit rough but do you know the technique to sieve a queen out? You'll need two spare brood boxes and a queen excluder and a piece of flat timber or hard cardboard.

You place one empty brood box over the other empty one but projecting about six inches and with a queen excluder in between. Underneath the part of the top brood box that's cantilevered you nail or tape a piece of timber to block this underneath the part of the queen excluder that's also cantilevered.

Then you shake all bees from the first frame into the top brood box and when clear of bees, place this in the bottom brood box as there will be an open gap equal to the cantilevered distance.

Continue in this way until all frames have been progressively cleared and replaced is the same sequence in the bottom brood box by pushing them forward.

The queen will be trapped above the bottom brood box. Smoke will be necessary to drive the bees down.

Hope you have a very good beesuit if you going to do this.

A sketch would explain this better but there you are.

 

[huntsman666]

One other thing.

Honeybees can be a bit more aggressive this time of year as they jealously guard their honey. So consider this before a rush to re-queen.

 

[oliver90owner]

If she has brood, you could try the easier option.

Box with a frame of brood and a couple others, one on each side.

Shake all bees from below the queen excluder into this bottom box, fit Q/Ex over this box and replace brood box with the rest of the brood. Come back later (or next day, preferably). Lift off the top boxes onto a new floor and take the Q/Ex, bottom box and floor well away from the rest of the boxes and search for her. Fairly simple, reliable and easy, if you have the time. Only one or two frames worth of bees to 'sieve' if you need to do that.

RAB

 

[Poly Hive]

Meli? Can we have some more info please?

You say eggs 6 weeks ago...What was the status the last time you looked?

PH

 

[MELI]

Meli? Can we have some more info please?

You say eggs 6 weeks ago...What was the status the last time you looked?

PH

the last time I looked was 6 weeks ago, but i have not looked for eggs since; also, i am fairly new to beekeeping, which does not help when comes to more complex tasks like re-queening or isolating a queen. My next queen will be marked, for sure.

 

[rockdoc]

Hi Meli. The suggestions above are good and will work well if you have company of another beek. Some bees can be more aggressive this time of year, but I think it is crucial for you to see if you have day or so old brood. The queen may well be on that frame if you have. I would not in my limited experience change the queen now, rather wait for spring, but it does depend on your circumstances! If in doubt seek local advice and join your local group if you have not already done so.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

I like RAB's plan -and if you want to be pretty sure about the existence of a queen and have difficulty seeing eggs, look for grubs in the cells - she'll have been passing by within the past 10 days.

Or leave it to the spring when she should be easier to find with a smaller population, though you will have to wait a bit for 2012 mated replacements to come on the market or take a 2011 queen