scrub queen, definition???

[rje66]

Just curious as what constitutes a scrub queen?, if you have one, is it important to get rid asap?

 

[Teemore]

It depends...

Some folk will say any small queen is a scrub queen. Some apply this term to any queen produced in an emergency cell or a cell that to them, appears too small.
I have come across small queens that have headed up good, productive colonies and on that basis they were good queens. Perhaps it is better to refer to good and bad queens.

As to whether you should get rid of any queen, well, have you a replacement to hand? How is she laying? Drones, workers, spotty brood? What is the colony temperament like? Is the colony productive? These are perhaps more important determinants of whether you should get rid of a queen.

 

[rje66]

Thanks, the reason I was wondering was I did an AS and the QC ended up not being very big and if my calculations are correct opened on day 17.
So no laying yet.

 

[beeno]

Thanks, the reason I was wondering was I did an AS and the QC ended up not being very big and if my calculations are correct opened on day 17.
So no laying yet.

I have come across scrub queen not much larger than a worker and she was a prolific layer. The problem is that they will go through a queen excluder and end up in the supers. Size is no longer seen as a sign of fertility, but is the only sign there is to go on for the beek until she proves herself. However, it may be a sign of poor nutrition which will affect the quality of the queen and therefore I would not let her go through the winter but use her only as a stop gap if I had to.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just curious as what constitutes a scrub queen?, if you have one, is it important to get rid asap?

To my mind a scrub queen is one made on emergency cells by workers too old to give her adequate nutrition. That's why a test frame often yields them if you decide to go that way rather than introducing a mated queen. Size is no indication.

 

[Cussword]

To my mind a scrub queen is one made on emergency cells by workers too old to give her adequate nutrition. That's why a test frame often yields them if you decide to go that way rather than introducing a mated queen. Size is no indication.

That's what I've read.