RE-Queen Drone Layers

[Busy Bee]

Has anyone got any logic on how to re-queen a drone laying colony or a drone laying nuc?


Busy Bee

 

[Hivemaker.]

Kill the drone laying queen, and add a new one in a slow release cage.

 

[Busy Bee]

Kill the drone laying queen, and add a new one in a slow release cage.

Hi Hivemaker,

Sorry for my ignorance but how do you kill or find a drone layer? Is there a special way other than shake them 200 yrd away.

Busy Bee

 

[Hivemaker.]

You mean laying workers then...not a drone laying queen...not much good tipping them out up the road,they can still fly back,best to add frame of brood,see if they draw queen cells.,if not after a few days add another frame of brood.

 

[fatshark]

If it's drone laying workers Hooper says you can unite with a strong colony. There's a suggestion that drone laying workers may not accept an introduced queen (Cramp). Cramp clearly favours shaking them all out at a distance, and then re-queening. I'm giving the uniting method a go at the moment ... watch this space.

--
fatshark

 

[Onge]

Just something I would like to know.

If you have a drone laying queen and you replace her. do you have to replace all the messed up drone comb or do the bees sort it out themselves?

Just something I would like to find out before I have to do It my self.

Sorry for the hijack.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Its only normally in worker size cells with the negleted/dead brood,bee's usually sort it out,but if it's only a couple of frame's then you just as well get rid of them.

 

[Busy Bee]

You mean laying workers then...not a drone laying queen...not much good tipping them out up the road,they can still fly back,best to add frame of brood,see if they draw queen cells.,if not after a few days add another frame of brood.

Sorry yea workers...

If no cells are drawn after second frames is this colony doomed even if it quite large? Or is there further processes to be carried out?


Busy Bee

 

[Hivemaker.]

If they don't draw cells add another frame of brood and then a new queen in a slow release cage,leave her in the colony caged for a couple of days before release,or you could add a queen cell.

 

[Heather]

Busy bee

IMO

Drone laying queen - single eggs laid- all drone- find queen and remove her-put her in freezer if you are squeamish. leave 24 hours then replace with new queen- Virgin- puff of smoke and release in - mated queen slow release cage and check after 2 days that she has been released by bees

drone laying workers - multiply eggs in each cell drone bees only developing - then you need to remove hive 20' from original site. Replace fresh brood box and frames onto original site- shake all bees onto a sheet- and all but layers and very new bees will return to new box on original site.

 

[Busy Bee]

I presume the caged queen would be placed between the 2 frames of capped brood so the bees would expect to find her there. What happens to the laying workers in the re-queened colony?

Busy Bee

 

[Busy Bee]

Busy bee

drone laying workers - multiply eggs in each cell drone bees only developing - then you need to remove hive 20' from original site. Replace fresh brood box and frames onto original site- shake all bees onto a sheet- and all but layers and very new bees will return to new box on original site.

Most patrons I have spoken to would be of the opinion the laying worker can still fly back to the hive.

Busy Bee

 

[Hivemaker.]

The brood and emerging young bee's helps put the colony back in whack (pheromone) and except a new queen more easily.

 

[Heather]

Thats where beekeeping gets interesting as I was taught that they become slightly heavier and don't fly so well. So many theories.
I have done a shake out and did have a few that were reluctant to move - and they were not immature bees. So seemed to work for me.

 

[Hivemaker.]

The brood pheromones will help suppress ovary development in the workers and the new bees will be very accepting.

Michael Bush has some more tips on his site in the link below.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm

 

[Busy Bee]

The brood pheromones will help suppress ovary development in the workers and the new bees will be very accepting.

Michael Bush has some more tips on his site in the link below.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm

Brilliant "Hivemaker" thank you. Your the 1st person to put some sence into this problem, with a plausable solution.

Thank you again.

Busy Bee

 

[Crg]

Brilliant "Hivemaker" thank you. Your the 1st person to put some sence into this problem, with a plausable solution.

Thank you again.

Busy Bee

As an experiment I gave a couple of laying worker colonies last year brood pheromone, then requeened a few weeks.

It worked for those two colonies, but it's not really a good sample size. Hopefully I don't get a chance to try it again.

 

[Chris B]

If you have several hives in the apiary why not simply shake out all the bees from the laying worker colony, scratch out the drone comb with a fork, and give the box to a deserving colony as a super? You've lost the colony but not the bees who have boosted others in the apiary. You can easily recreate the lost colony by making a nuc with a new queen at any time, and it's a less risky queen introduction to boot.

 

[Brian Bush]

I have been successful with the shaking out of the hive. I added a frame of brood to see what was happening and decided that it was laying workers. On a sunny day I shook all the bees out on a sheet 50yds away. Put the introduced brood frame and another in a new hive, plus some of the food combs and the super from the original hive. Threw away the frames withe the drone brood comb or destroyed cells. The Bees flew back over a period of an hour. Liberally shook icing sugar over the returned bees. On the sheet were a number of drones and one or two workers. Could not find a queen of any sort. Shook the bees off the sheet that evening. Next day shook icing sugar over the bees in the hive and introduced new queen in slow release cage. It worked. Probably just luck!!

 

[Busy Bee]

I have been successful with the shaking out of the hive. I added a frame of brood to see what was happening and decided that it was laying workers. On a sunny day I shook all the bees out on a sheet 50yds away. Put the introduced brood frame and another in a new hive, plus some of the food combs and the super from the original hive. Threw away the frames withe the drone brood comb or destroyed cells. The Bees flew back over a period of an hour. Liberally shook icing sugar over the returned bees. On the sheet were a number of drones and one or two workers. Could not find a queen of any sort. Shook the bees off the sheet that evening. Next day shook icing sugar over the bees in the hive and introduced new queen in slow release cage. It worked. Probably just luck!!

Funny you say this, I was pissed with a colony last year after being Queenless for about 6 weeks did what you said as a last resort and it worked first time.

Busy Bee