Third Laying Worker Colony

[Millet]

I thought they where supposed to be rare.. .. i was suspicious about this colony and my doubts have been confirmed today.. 1/2/3/4/5 eggs in each cell some in the bottom and some slightly of center and all the brood is drone brood...that's what i get for waiting for a supposedly mated Queen to get laying.

I have a Question.. from past experience i know a laying worker colony is a nightmare to Re Queen.. i have put a frame of eggs and brood from another colony in the hope they draw Queen cells.. however i do not want to risk anymore virgin Queens getting mated this year so my idea is..bearing in mind these are very calm gentle bees... if i wait for them to draw Queen cells and seal them.. will it be worth knocking them all down and adding a mated Queen in a cage.. i can make a nuc up from another colony but i would rather give it a go the way i have mentioned if sensible knowledgeable folk think it is too risky i will go the Nuc route..
Thanks.
Steve.

 

[beeno]

Hi Millet, Congrats on the honey. If your colonies produce scrub queens 'it is all about the jelly' not enough nurse bees to feed and nurture the larvae with Royal Jelly not the mating. Shake them out is my advice not worth you spending money on a bought queen.

 

[Millet]

Hi Millet, Congrats on the honey. If your colonies produce scrub queens 'it is all about the jelly' not enough nurse bees to feed and nurture the larvae with Royal Jelly not the mating. Shake them out is my advice not worth you spending money on a bought queen.

There becomes a dilemma i forgot to mention if i shake them out.. this particular colony is now on one brood box with four supers not fully capped above them and i do not have enough bees in the other colonies yet to give the supers too..
I will sacrifice the supers though for the safety of introducing a mated Queen in a nuc.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I thought they where supposed to be rare.. .. i was suspicious about this colony and my doubts have been confirmed today.. 1/2/3/4/5 eggs in each cell some in the bottom and some slightly of center and all the brood is drone brood...that's what i get for waiting for a supposedly mated Queen to get laying.

I have a Question.. from past experience i know a laying worker colony is a nightmare to Re Queen.. i have put a frame of eggs and brood from another colony in the hope they draw Queen cells.. however i do not want to risk anymore virgin Queens getting mated this year so my idea is..bearing in mind these are very calm gentle bees... if i wait for them to draw Queen cells and seal them.. will it be worth knocking them all down and adding a mated Queen in a cage.. i can make a nuc up from another colony but i would rather give it a go the way i have mentioned if sensible knowledgeable folk think it is too risky i will go the Nuc route..
Thanks.
Steve.

Yes you can but you might have to give them three or four frames of brood ( one at weekly intervals) before they draw those queen cells.
If they were mine I would unite them with a really strong colony

 

[ShinySideUp]

Yes you can but you might have to give them three or four frames of brood ( one at weekly intervals) before they draw those queen cells.
If they were mine I would unite them with a really strong colony

In the same vein, would uniting with a strong colony cure the laying worker problem?

 

[Millet]

Yes you can but you might have to give them three or four frames of brood ( one at weekly intervals) before they draw those queen cells.
If they were mine I would unite them with a really strong colony

Thank you ..Dani..

My last laying worker colony drew Queen Cells instantly from a test frame..well not instantly but pretty quickly.. i will not unite these though as they are still working on the supers..

 

[beeno]

Borrow a refractometer from someone. Your super frames don't need to be fully capped for runny honey. My partially capped supers have meter readings of 16% at the moment!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thank you ..Dani..

My last laying worker colony drew Queen Cells instantly from a test frame..well not instantly but pretty quickly.. i will not unite these though as they are still working on the supers..

You can unite through supers.
I do it all the time
Just consolidate the boxes after three days

 

[Eyeman]

Stick a test frame in when all brood has hatched and no problems with laying workers. Yes it will not be necessary in over 50% cases.

 

[Millet]

Borrow a refractometer from someone. Your super frames don't need to be fully capped for runny honey. My partially capped supers have meter readings of 16% at the moment!

I have one.. ..i will be extracting brood frames today full of stors that are fully uncapped but reading 16.5 % so i will check the supers on Saturday..

 

[Millet]

Well a Quick update.. Mammies silly little soldier has managed to Re Queen the laying worker colony so nothing is lost or upset..i put a test frame in three Saturdays ago... last Saturday i checked and they had drawn Queen cells which had suppressed the laying worker (no eggs of any kind anywhere)... i had ordered two mated Queens prior to this inspection to make a nuc and Re Queen another colony..
I thought dam making a nuc and have a little gamble.. i put one mated Queen in a 100% Q- colony and the other in the laying worker colony... i checked them both on Wednesday and both colonies had a lot of bees around the commercial transport cages... i spent a good bit of time watching the behavior of the bees around both caged Queens and i noticed the odd be sticking its tongue into the cages... i swept them of with my finger but they where back on the cages quickly like a rash so i was still 50/50 if they had been accepted...i did the same with both colonies and decided to blow all the bees of the cages and place them on the top bars of the outer frames... the bees quickly balled the cages again but one thing they done give me confidence.. and that was several bees in both colonies started fanning there Nasonov gland into the air so i snapped the candy plug open and crossed my fingers and toes..on today's inspection the two GM Queens are alive /well and laying like trains...
So to sum this thread up a laying worker colony is not a lost cause and they can be Re Queened if you know what to do and look out for..
Thankyou to anyone who give me some positive tips..
Steve.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well a Quick update.. Mammies silly little soldier has managed to Re Queen the laying worker colony so nothing is lost or upset..i put a test frame in three Saturdays ago... last Saturday i checked and they had drawn Queen cells which had suppressed the laying worker (no eggs of any kind anywhere)... i had ordered two mated Queens prior to this inspection to make a nuc and Re Queen another colony..
I thought dam making a nuc and have a little gamble.. i put one mated Queen in a 100% Q- colony and the other in the laying worker colony... i checked them both on Wednesday and both colonies had a lot of bees around the commercial transport cages... i spent a good bit of time watching the behavior of the bees around both caged Queens and i noticed the odd be sticking its tongue into the cages... i swept them of with my finger but they where back on the cages quickly like a rash so i was still 50/50 if they had been accepted...i did the same with both colonies and decided to blow all the bees of the cages and place them on the top bars of the outer frames... the bees quickly balled the cages again but one thing they done give me confidence.. and that was several bees in both colonies started fanning there Nasonov gland into the air so i snapped the candy plug open and crossed my fingers and toes..on today's inspection the two GM Queens are alive /well and laying like trains...
So to sum this thread up a laying worker colony is not a lost cause and they can be Re Queened if you know what to do and look out for..
Thankyou to anyone who give me some positive tips..
Steve.

You’ve lost me
Are you saying one test frame suppressed your laying worker colony?

 

[Julie in Ash]

You’ve lost me
Are you saying one test frame suppressed your laying worker colony?

If I've read it correctly, Millet wrote the resultant Q cells suppressed the laying workers.

 

[Millet]

You’ve lost me
Are you saying one test frame suppressed your laying worker colony?

Yip .. it did in the end... with patience..

 

[Millet]

If I've read it correctly, Millet wrote the resultant Q cells suppressed the laying workers.

Correct .

 

[Millet]

Any doubting or negative folk best not reply unless it is helpful

 

[Tony19]

Hi again, great result, never say never. If you remember I had a Q- small swarm nuc and they were laying drones, everyone I asked at my association apiary said they were a lost cause and several people on here. However I'm the stubborn type plus a soft touch for any form of wildlife.
So I sent for a mated queen, pressed the travel box with the new queen and attendant workers into a frame and left them for 4 days, after which the bees in the hive could be brushed off the travel box and they seemed to be going about normal bee business. I opened the cage put the queen on my hand and in she walked.Checked 5 days later and all good, eggs seen and all calm,
Then disaster! Massive robbing problem which had been going on for several days hive totally cleared out and queen gone.
So lesson 1 I definitely think you can requeen a queenless drone laying colony.
Lesson 2 act really fast if you see or think that robbing has started.
That's the main reason I bought the Thorne's RoBo block, for the flexibility.
However, horse and stable door springs to mind in this case.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If I've read it correctly, Millet wrote the resultant Q cells suppressed the laying workers.

But why would a queen right colony make queen cells in the first place? That’s the bit I don’t understand.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Any doubting or negative folk best not reply unless it is helpful

I am not doubting. I am seeking an explanation of why it might have worked.

 

[enrico]

But why would a queen right colony make queen cells in the first place? That’s the bit I don’t understand.

I was getting a bit confused too. In your first post you said you were waiting for a supposedly mated queen to start laying when the workers started laying instead. What happened to the queen?
Just interested
E