Re queening advice.

[Mwsedgwick]

Hi there

Queen abandoned hive a few weeks ago and I've wait in the hope the hive will re queen itself but sadly not.

No sign of new queen or eggs and bee population dwindling.

What shall I do? Re queen now? Introduce frame of eggs in the hope the hive produces new queen?

Would a new queen have time to mate before winter. Im not seeing many drones anymore.

Bees are extremely well behaved but are starting to get swamped with wasps.

Thanks

 

[enrico]

Hi there

Queen abandoned hive a few weeks ago and I've wait in the hope the hive will re queen itself but sadly not.

No sign of new queen or eggs and bee population dwindling.

What shall I do? Re queen now? Introduce frame of eggs in the hope the hive produces new queen?

Would a new queen have time to mate before winter. Im not seeing many drones anymore.

Bees are extremely well behaved but are starting to get swamped with wasps.

Thanks

If you are sure there is no queen do you have another hive? Combine them
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi there

Queen abandoned hive a few weeks ago and I've wait in the hope the hive will re queen itself but sadly not.

No sign of new queen or eggs and bee population dwindling.

What shall I do? Re queen now? Introduce frame of eggs in the hope the hive produces new queen?

Would a new queen have time to mate before winter. Im not seeing many drones anymore.

Bees are extremely well behaved but are starting to get swamped with wasps.

Thanks

Queen abandoned!?
Sure you don't mean she just died?
Did the remaining bees make any emergency queen cells when she first 'left'?
Or was there any brood (open or sealed) on her initial disappearance?
are you sure there's no queen in there now? many colonies have a brood break around this time of year.

 

[Mwsedgwick]

Queen abandoned!?
Sure you don't mean she just died?
Did the remaining bees make any emergency queen cells when she first 'left'?
Or was there any brood (open or sealed) on her initial disappearance?
are you sure there's no queen in there now? many colonies have a brood break around this time of year.

Hi

They swarmed a few weeks ago i think.

Yes i did have a number of queen cells but no sign of a queen now. I left if probably 4-6 weeks now but no sign of a new queen, eggs etc.

Pretty sure there is no queen

 

[enrico]

Ah!!!!! Very different scenario. It does hep to get all the info!!!
Test frame. Bet there is a queen in there. It is difficult to see the first few patches of eggs. Be patient!
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi

They swarmed a few weeks ago i think.

Yes i did have a number of queen cells but no sign of a queen now. I left if probably 4-6 weeks now but no sign of a new queen, eggs etc.

Pretty sure there is no queen

Is it four or six? Think carefully before jumping to conclusions, I bet there is a queen in there, if it's six weeks from the day they swarmed, it's only about five weeks since the new queen emerged, give it another week

 

[Mwsedgwick]

Is it four or six? Think carefully before jumping to conclusions, I bet there is a queen in there, if it's six weeks from the day they swarmed, it's only about five weeks since the new queen emerged, give it another week

It's more like 6 weeks.

I'll leave it another week then make a decision

 

[Erichalfbee]

It's more like 6 weeks.

I'll leave it another week then make a decision

Do you have another colony?

 

[Swarm]

Are there polished cells?

 

[enrico]

It's more like 6 weeks.

I'll leave it another week then make a decision

The dates can be quite important for lots of things. Try and get into the habit of keeping a bee diary or a spread sheet. It helps you and us to see where the problems lie.
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The dates can be quite important for lots of things. Try and get into the habit of keeping a bee diary or a spread sheet. It helps you and us to see where the problems lie.
E

The main reason I religiously keep my cursory notes on each colony at each inspection, as well as a spreadsheet for my queen rearing/mating nucs - well, not so much a spreadsheet as a scrap of ruled paper which remains with me long after the nucs are either shaken out or hived, only found my 2018 scrap earlier !

 

[drdrday]

The dates can be quite important for lots of things. Try and get into the habit of keeping a bee diary or a spread sheet. It helps you and us to see where the problems lie.
E

Since lockdown my wall calendar is almost entirely bee notations now! Whether it's future dates for scheduled OA vapes, or past dates for when AS or splits were done, when Q was likely to emerge, when to expect a queen to have mated etc.
It's all in the bee notes too of course, but I find it easier to mark on the wall calendar and count and work out the days/weeks, and then I can see at a glance when I need to do something, and fit it in around the (currently minimal) social events
The only certainty I've found in beekeeping so far is how long workers/drones/queens take to emerge - so I make the most of those little facts to give me the illusion of at least a little bit of control.