Unsure if hive is queenless - mated queen added.

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daniblack13

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Location
Warwickshire
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Hello,

Any advice on the below situation is very welcome!

I put a swarm into a hive on the 16th of June, left them for 3 weeks - no eggs being laid but colony collecting lots of pollen and nectar.
Monday 7th June - put a frame of eggs from another hive in.
Wednesday 9th June - no emergency cells being made but no site of a queen or any eggs still.
Wednesday 9th June. - mated queen placed in hive in cage, bees did not seem hostile towards her.


What do you think my next steps should be? The lack of emergency cells makes me think there may be a queen in there but the numbers are small and I have spent a long time looking for her, plus no eggs. What will happen if there is an existing queen in there but I have now added a mated queen in a cage? How will I know if it's suitable to release her in a couple of days?

Many thanks in advance.

Dani
 
It's not easy spotting a virgin Queen in the hive.
However after she mates her body will grow in length and stand out more.
 
I expect your mated queen will be killed on release as there is a virgin in there.
You think she'll last that long? she's stuck in a cage and can't run away - good chance the VQ will get her through the bars.
 
Worth having a closer look at the frames? The bees know whether they have a queen and I usually check the place on the frames where the queen would lay first, if there is a queen the bees will have nicely cleaned and polished the rugby ball shape cluster of cells ready for laying. If they're queenless they don't bother and they'll just have stores there?
 
Hello,

Any advice on the below situation is very welcome!

I put a swarm into a hive on the 16th of June, left them for 3 weeks - no eggs being laid but colony collecting lots of pollen and nectar.
Monday 7th June - put a frame of eggs from another hive in.
Wednesday 9th June - no emergency cells being made but no site of a queen or any eggs still.
Wednesday 9th June. - mated queen placed in hive in cage, bees did not seem hostile towards her.


What do you think my next steps should be? The lack of emergency cells makes me think there may be a queen in there but the numbers are small and I have spent a long time looking for her, plus no eggs. What will happen if there is an existing queen in there but I have now added a mated queen in a cage? How will I know if it's suitable to release her in a couple of days?

Many thanks in advance.

Dani
I would get her out quick. You already have a queen in there she just has not hot going yet. Your new queen will probably get killed I'm sorry to say.
 
" I put a swarm into a hive on the 16th of June, left them for 3 weeks - no eggs being laid but colony collecting lots of pollen and nectar. "

Time travel!
 
That's not optimistic, it's pessimistic.
Not at all - it's realistic. Although I've seen queens mated and laying within days/a week or two of emergence, the reality is, I would not even bother checking a nuc until four weeks after a queen was due to emerge, and even then I wouldn't be downhearted on seeing no eggs.
 

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