Running on comb

[drex]

I have one colony that runs on the comb like mad. I need to find the queen to unite to a quieter colony. I am not bad at finding queens, but this one is elusive in all the mayhem. Tried the pages of a book trick, moving to deplete of fliers, and am loathe to sieve . Suggestions? I do not smoke when looking for queens, gave this lot a few puffs in last look through, and made no difference. Even tried misting with water, but that only slowed them for few seconds.

 

[Finman]

.
Move the hive 10 feet and hive a new hive to old place,

After 2 days there are only very young bees on the brood hive. IT is easier to operate.
Just like AS. Give a brood frame to AS. IT makes them calm

 

[drex]

I will when I find her. That is the point of my post

 

[B+.]

Suggestions? I do not smoke when looking for queens, gave this lot a few puffs in last look through, and made no difference. Even tried misting with water, but that only slowed them for few seconds.

Misting them with syrup might slow them down a bit. At this time of year, they may be interested in a bit of sugar water

 

[Finman]

I will when I find her. That is the point of my post

What....you did not understand what I say.

 

[drex]

What....you did not understand what I say.

Your original post which was edited one minute after my comment on it said something like "change the queen" and that was all!
I am not that stupid
Anyway in my OP I did say I had tried moving the hive.
Thanks anyway Finman

 

[Hawklord]

How many frames of brood are there? Have you tried removing all the frames without brood and then put the frames with brood into pairs?

 

[oliver90owner]

Sieve them, either upwards or downwards. I advised Obee1 to sieve them upwards with a pair of frames of open brood under the Q/E. It worked OK for her. Likely no brood would work just as well.

 

[Eyeman]

Don't mean to state the obvious but I've one colony where the queen is regularly on the side wall of the hive.
I would sieve them or just keep looking- depends how much of a hurry your in!

 

[beepeaceful]

After moving all n sieving. My elusive queen was right at the bottom of the original brood box, hiding in the shadows. I had almost given up looking believing she couldn't possibly be left in there. Good luck.

 

[drex]

I went through the box three times and still could not find her. Ended up sieving them and she has still eluded me! I went on to my last remaining colony where the queen is not marked, this one having defied many attempts to find her. There she was on the first frame I pulled, right against the wall, nowhere near the brood!

 

[Obee1]

I went through the box three times and still could not find her. Ended up sieving them and she has still eluded me! I went on to my last remaining colony where the queen is not marked, this one having defied many attempts to find her. There she was on the first frame I pulled, right against the wall, nowhere near the brood!

For those of you who missed the details of RABs method. -
When I seived mine I first moved the hive away and left a nuc on the original site for foragers to return to. Having bled off foragers during the afternoon I then put two brood frames in the centre of the box on the moved hive and removed all other frames. Then made a funnel from an empty brood chamber placed over the box with the two frames. Shake / brush every single bee into the funnel. Every last bee! Remove funnel- QE on then rebuild the rest of the hive above. I left mine overnight. Next morning dismantle the hive. The queen will be in that bottom box between those two brood frames.
It seems like a lot of effort but it really works - I used this method twice with success. However don't do it without bleeding foragers. Makes it much harder to brush or shake if they are present.

 

[ga5321]

Thank you for explaining the funnel method; I am also trying to locate an errant Queen.