Test frame- they built QCs, then took them down!

[beekake]

OK, I've got a queenless colony (since 6 weeks ago). Put a test frame in last Monday. Within 5 days (Saturday) they had raised about 6 or so QCs, and they were all occupied with plenty of Royal Jelly. So, the colony must be without a queen or even a virgin. Right?

As a result I took the decision to combine the (now confirmed queenless) colony with a small colony I had raised in a nuc, and went to implement my plan today. When I took the test frame out, all the QCs had been torn down (rather than being capped, as I had expected).

Is it possible that I really do have a queen in my colony after all, and that she is now coming into lay? And, as a result, the resident bees have torn down the cells that they had started making because they realised that they were making a mistake?

I'm really confused by this- it's not happening like it says it will in the books!

Beekake

 

[REDWOOD]

Was there a queen in the nuc, if so there is your problem, you united the bees as one and only one queen needed per hive so bees had no need for new queens

 

[beekake]

No, I had not introduced a new queen, my inspection happened before I tried to unite the two colonies i.e. the intention was to unite, but the fact that they had torn down the queen cells on the test frame suddenly made me doubt the correctness of my plan.

 

[beesleybees]

Was there a queen in the nuc, if so there is your problem, you united the bees as one and only one queen needed per hive so bees had no need for new queens

think you have mis-read his post redwood

he said he was going to unite a nuc with the colony but when he went to do this (guessing it was a day or 2 later), he noticed that they had torn down the charged queen cells that had been made. This went against what h though he would see which is sealed queen cells

im interested in the answer to this too

 

[enrico]

Yep.... Without a doubt there was a queen in the nuc! ( sorry I mis read it too......ignore that!)

 

[Poly Hive]

My thought is that there was an advanced cell on the test frame which hatched out first and on that event the remaining cells were torn down.

PH

 

[REDWOOD]

Sorry skip reading again (bad habit), what could have happened is the queen has gone of laying or infertile and she is in the hive so the bees will not replace her, you will have to find the queen and replace her

 

[beekake]

Well, the queen was almost certainly lost in mid-April (they built lots and lost of QCs, so I followed the books & reduced to one good one). But no sign of a laying queen as yet. The test frame was mainly eggs and very young brood, and it was put in the assumed queenless colony 8 days ago. There were definitely no QCs on the test frame, or even any cups, so how could they build and hatch a new queen in 8 days?

 

[Poly Hive]

Indeed they could not if indeed there were no queen cells there.

However so many beekeepers manage to miss cells between the comb and side bar I am left wondering.

I cannot think of another reason for the cells being taken down other than a queen of some sort being in there.

PH

 

[beesleybees]

@ Redwood

sorry to jump on this thread but i too have placed a test frame in a suspected queenless colony. I was intending on checking the test frame at 5 days to if they have built any charged queen cells. Reading this thread, Im now confused!!

so when is the right time to check a test frame and decide that the hive is infact queenless and requires a new queen

 

[beekake]

Well, that's what I thought ("there is a queen in there!"), so maybe there is hope. Of course, now I worry that, if there is a new queen from the test cell, my bees have been queenless for so long that the colony will be on its last legs before any new bees can start to rebuild the population.

 

[REDWOOD]

@ Redwood

sorry to jump on this thread but i too have placed a test frame in a suspected queenless colony. I was intending on checking the test frame at 5 days to if they have built any charged queen cells. Reading this thread, Im now confused!!

so when is the right time to check a test frame and decide that the hive is infact queenless and requires a new queen

If there is a queen in the hive they won't produce a new queen unless the bees want a new queen, some times queens run out of sperm and become drone layers and still the bees accept her. A good indication of a queenless colony is a lot of fanning but with this weather bees fan to cool the hive anyway but not so much these days with OMF, also a bad tempered colony is usually a queenless one

 

[beekake]

Hmmm. Well, the bees are a bit bad tempered, but they always have been. If they were still Q- after 6 weeks, how bad tempered would they be? Someone did tell me I shouldn't be able to get near the hive after being Q- for so long.

 

[Hivemaker.]

You may even have a virgin in the hive that cannot fly to mate,buggered up wings.

 

[beekake]

Oh dear, that would be even more depressing. Anyway, the general consensus seems to be that the taking down of the Qcs indicates a queen in the hive (mated or a virgin). If that conclusion is wrong, I assume someone will let me know. But if that is the conclusion, then I should just carry on waiting I guess.