What’s the best way to re Q a nasty hive?

[Wingy]

Got a hive that was a bit touchy last season. Now on double brood & 2 x supers, still not much going in the supers but bees are now very nasty. Yesterday couldn’t even get past the QX before I was covered in bees. Was thinking of moving the hive to the other side of the apiary and putting a new one in its location to catch the flying bees. Do I then -
Re Q the hive with the flyers that would be hopelessly Q - find & kill the Q then re combine OR
Find and kill the Q check & destroy all Q cells then re Q with all the brood & recombine
Any other methods that would be better - destroying the whole thing did cross my mind

 

[GuyNir]

I would be very careful requeening a nasty hive. Consider moving the hive aside to get rid of all the flying bees. Find the queen and get rid of her, at the same time introduce the new Q in a cage. Better chances with only the nurse bees left. Consider leaving the tab on the cage intact, until you see there’s no aggression towards her.
Goes without saying when removing the tab off the cage, make sure there are no Q cells started.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Find and kill the Q check & destroy all Q cells then re Q

If you move the colony away, do you have another Q+ one to put in it's place, rather than an empty box? Your recipe was not really clear but it would be an opportunity to upgrade a nuc.

How about this: once the flyers are bled, find and cage the queen and hang the cage in the colony for seven days. Remove the cage and kill the queen and add a frame of eggs from a good-tempered colony that ticks the boxes.

Bees will make EQCs on your chosen larvae, and you'll avoid the job of removing EQCs from a queenless and defensive colony. Let them make honey.

Dried puffball in a smoker is said to anaesthetise bees; I had to deal with a problem queen years ago and a friend had access to dry ice. That worked brilliantly! Took the crownboard off and put an eke on top with garden netting at its base, filled it with dry ice and waited ten minutes. Bees all knocked out, took them apart and found the queen, united a nuc with newspaper and when they woke up all was sweet.

 

[Hachi]

Dried puffball in a smoker is said to anaesthetise bees; I had to deal with a problem queen years ago and a friend had access to dry ice. That worked brilliantly! Took the crownboard off and put an eke on top with garden netting at its base, filled it with dry ice and waited ten minutes. Bees all knocked out, took them apart and found the queen, united a nuc with newspaper and when they woke up all was sweet.

Well you live and learn shame I don't have access to dry ice.

 

[B+.]

Got a hive that was a bit touchy last season. Now on double brood & 2 x supers, still not much going in the supers but bees are now very nasty. Yesterday couldn’t even get past the QX before I was covered in bees. Was thinking of moving the hive to the other side of the apiary and putting a new one in its location to catch the flying bees. Do I then -
Re Q the hive with the flyers that would be hopelessly Q - find & kill the Q then re combine OR
Find and kill the Q check & destroy all Q cells then re Q with all the brood & recombine
Any other methods that would be better - destroying the whole thing did cross my mind

My method:
1. Raise brood above a queen excluder, leaving the "tetchy" queen below the excluder.
2. Leave them alone for 9 days until all brood above the excluder is sealed.
3. Lift off the upper box and go through it thoroughly, destroying anything that even looks like a queen cell
4. Introduce a new queen of known temperament under a push-in cage.
5. A few days later, she should be laying and accepted so you can remove the push-in cage.
You have now created a nuc using the "tetchy" queens brood to establish a more agreeable queen.
6. Move the "tetchy" queen to one side and place the nuc on the original site. The flying bees will return to the original site and reinforce the new queens colony.
7. Locate, and kill the "tetchy" queen in a, now, depleted box.
8. Shake all bees off the comb and, again, destroy anything that even looks like a queen cell
9. Return the brood to the new queens colony (the queen excluder can now be placed ontop of the double-brood configuration so the new queen can police the area.
10. In summer, you should notice the new queens workers appearing in about 3 weeks so this is best done at an out-apiary where you can work without affecting anyone else.