Requeening

[kevp]

Hi All, I'm re-queening a hive which is on a 14x12 and extremely large - but vicious. My plan was to find the queen and do the deed, and try for a straight forward introduction. But after three passes through the brood, she was well and truly elusive as she has been most of the summer. Definitely there somewhere as there are eggs. So, reading the advice about queen introduction from where I'm getting my queen, it says make a nuc and introduce the queen to that (thats the crux but with more detail) then unite the nuc back to the main hive.

So if I select three frames to do the split and allow the flying bee's to go home. If the queen is there, she will be easier to spot and return her to the main hive for the time being, then introduce the new queen, cross my fingers etc. Assuming all goes well, how soon should I deal with the queen in the main hive and unite the newly queened nuc?

Sorry for the ramblings, but hope you get the gist of what I'm trying to do. Of course I'm wide open to alternative suggestions.

 

[Swarm]

Get a QX and spare brood box. Find three frames of sealed/emerging brood, and two of stores and arrange these together in the spare box after shaking off the bees. Put the QX on the hive and the spare box on top and cover with the crown board . Leave them for a while and when you return, the nurse bees will have moved up to cover the brood. Remove the spare box and make up the nuc by adding comb or foundation and then place it on its intended site before adding the queen in her cage, give them a light feed.
Your old queen might be easier to spot with less bees but you know she won't be in your nuc.

 

[kevp]

Fantastic! Thank you for that, sounds far easier than my muddled method