Still time to raise a new queen?

[beeatshellards]

drone laying quen

 

[OXFORDBEE]

With the current weather I'd guess that drones will be thrown out in the next week or so.


Let us know when yours start doing this out of interest,my bees are still laying up drone cells really well,and i have never known them get rid the drones at the end of july.......usually nearer the end of september.

Hivemaker, I have a simliar experience. The drones get evicted sometime in September.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Hivemaker, I have a simliar experience. The drones get evicted sometime in September.

Must be some kind of regional thing,(not this one though)several supercede in late august on the heather,they would not be able to do this if they evicted all the drones at the end of july. Chatting with a friend of mine from NI and even he has plenty of drones that far north,plus rears lots of queens,which still get mated until late september without much problem.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have a poor little colony that have just made a queen cell from a test frame.
I realise that there will not be any foragers till probably end of September so I should unite this miserable little lot. It's so tempting to give them a go though,isn't it? I have another box that could spare a frame of brood. However my question is would all bees take food from a feeder, ie nurse bees and foragers or would it be just the foragers?

 

[drstitson]

EHB - make up a mini nuc using just young bees and you'll get your answer.

 

[Erichalfbee]

doh!!! of course. Thanks DrS
I was planning to put them in a poly nuc box when I do the rest of the hives on Friday.

 

[drstitson]

you're welcome.

the neural pathways required for "foraging" are almost certainly vastly different to those for "pick up a little snack from the larder"