Uniting question

[Jambo]

Hi all

I have a drone laying queen so my thinking is to squash her and unite the decent population of bees with a nearby colony.

I consulted de Bruyn's book and in the uniting part he states uniting can be used to sort out laying workers but not DLQs. He doesn't say why, nor does he suggest a remedy for DLQs elsewhere in the text (that I can find).

I intend to go ahead as it works for others and I can't see any reason it wouldn't work -
but I'm curious, any idea why he says this?

Thanks

 

[MartinL]

What's the state of both hives?

If you have plenty of drones, wouldn't it be worth transferring a frame (with eggs) from the good hive? & squash her later?

 

[Jambo]

The one with the DLQ is also a bit on the small side, was a nuc promoted in the autumn, only has 7-8 drawn frames. My feeling is also that it's a bit early to be relying on good queen mating - combining now will result in a very strong colony which can produce a few nucs in May/June, is the plan.

Anyway - appreciate the advice - but let's get back to the question. Why does de Bruyn say that uniting is not the solution for DLQ?

 

[Poly Hive]

There is NO cure for a DLQ is point one.

Point 2 is by uniting without killing the DLQ there is a serious risk she may win the fight with the good queen and you have achieved nothing apart from compounding the issue.

You are right there is no chance of successful matings yet as (certainly in my hives) there is no drone brood yet and unlikely to be for a few weeks yet.

So... kill the DLQ, use the body to make swarm lure, and unite the two.

PH

 

[Jambo]

Thanks PH. I did wonder if that was his reason but he specifically says to remove the queen you think is least desirable rather than letting the bees decide. It's difficult to see where he is coming from.

I'll need to read about making swarm lures, new one on me!

 

[madasafish]

Thanks PH. I did wonder if that was his reason but he specifically says to remove the queen you think is least desirable rather than letting the bees decide. It's difficult to see where he is coming from.

I'll need to read about making swarm lures, new one on me!

So your choice is a drone laying queen or a fertile laying queen..Not really much of a decision...

 

[Jambo]

Yes I wasn't looking for assistance on that

 

[beeno]

Only in the early stages of the queen becoming a drone layer is there any point in uniting (after squishing her of course) as the drones would only be a drain on the resources of the colony you are uniting with.

 

[Jambo]

Yes - I must have caught this fairly early as there are many times more workers than drones, some of the workers are quite young and furry looking as well. My amateur's judgement on this is that the workers will be more of a benefit than the drones will be a drain, but I've got plenty to learn!

 

[colinc]

Remove the new laid up frames full of drone brood and discard. May reduce any Varroa slightly and increase room in brood for a bigger colony and reduce unwanted mouths.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[beeno]

Sounds good. Good luck.

 

[Jambo]

Can anyone advise what tends to happen with comb which has been used by a DLQ once a good queen is on it again? Although many of the cells have been extended in length and given a convex drone capping, if I understand correctly the diameter is still that of a worker cell, hence all the mini drones I now have.

If my thinking is correct then when HM gets her micrometer out and measures the cells she will determine them to be worker cells and drop fertilised eggs in them? Will the workers shorten the cells as necessary and restore order?

I ask because as a new beekeeper drawn brood comb is a precious commodity, so I'd rather keep it if possible. It is full of pollen too. But the combs look like the surface of the moon and of course I don't want a further excess of drones.

I am hatching a plan to make a load of drawn brood comb with my autumn feeding.