Spring sorting

[BeeKeyPlayer]

My absconding (?) story: Everything had been looking good. 2021 queen, colony building up well last summer, moved from nuc to hive last September, varroa low (and treated), well fed (and consuming), and rearing brood in mid-March when I last checked. Then a week ago, a completely empty hive, not even bees on the ground.

 

[Antipodes]

I'm sure that's exactly what I caught one year
View attachment 31067

I've just realised that this is good little "spot the queen" test.

 

[Antipodes]

My absconding (?) story: Everything had been looking good. 2021 queen, colony building up well last summer, moved from nuc to hive last September, varroa low (and treated), well fed (and consuming), and rearing brood in mid-March when I last checked. Then a week ago, a completely empty hive, not even bees on the ground.

That's a bad one. What did the brood situation in the frames look like after they left? Did you get a photo?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've just realised that this is good little "spot the queen" test.

Yes she’s there. Tattered and worn but she lived on for another two seasons.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

That's a bad one. What did the brood situation in the frames look like after they left? Did you get a photo?

There had been brood debris towards the front on the varroa board on 14 March. The weight of the box had reduced and I'd given more fondant previously. Nearly four weeks later when I open the hive, there are only some patches of drone brood remaining. Honey and pollen too, though some of this on outer frames was irrelevant to a diminishing colony. I don't know what the bees do, faced with their drone laying queen, diminishing numbers, and any opportunity presented by warm weather in late March. Tidy up and leave home? To do what? They left no corpses inside or outside.

 

[jeff33]

Beg their way into a viable colony apparently.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Beg their way into a viable colony apparently.

could be.
Years ago I sieved a colony looking for a queen I went back the next day to find her and the whole lot, every single bee, had gone.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

could be.
Years ago I sieved a colony looking for a queen.

I'd be interested in your method of sieving a colony. I tried once to smoke bees down through an excluder but wouldn't do it again. Too much forcing them to do what I wanted.

 

[jeff33]

could be.
Years ago I sieved a colony looking for a queen I went back the next day to find her and the whole lot, every single bee, had gone.

Obviously didn't enjoy the experience!! Did they leave brood behind?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Obviously didn't enjoy the experience!! Did they leave brood behind?

No there wasn’t any.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Move hive aside. Have an empty brood box on a new floor.
Go through all the frames and shake every bee into the box. Put on a QX replace the old brood box.
Look in the next day. All the bees bar the queen and stones will be above the QX
Some people leave one frame of brood in the bottom where they hopefully find the queen.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

where do you get the stones from?

 

[Erichalfbee]

where do you get the stones from?

Drones. DRONES

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Move hive aside. Have an empty brood box on a new floor.
Go through all the frames and shake every bee into the box. Put on a QX replace the old brood box.
Look in the next day. All the bees bar the queen and stones will be above the QX
Some people leave one frame of brood in the bottom where they hopefully find the queen.

Great. Thanks!