What are my options for a laying worker colony

[jenkinsbrynmair]

No - that's Rusty bullethole

 

[Curly green finger's]

Up date on the above colony!
She is laying like a train 4 frames of solid brood now, I can't wait to see what the workers are like.

 

[Repwoc]

That's interesting, Paul. Let us know what happens.

I'm with the wait a while longer side, could well be a new queen learning the ropes. If it's going to be shaken then another week won't hurt and I wouldn't be surprised to find sealed brood..

Well, I applied a little ocimene to the sides of the frame top bars daily for 5 days. Egg laying did seem to stop, so I decided to try adding a 'spare' queen. I put her in in a travel cage + fondant and left the tab in place for a couple of days. The bees seemed to be cool with her so I bent the tab back. I continued applying ocimene for a few more days then I had to work away for a while. I checked them on Saturday to find two frames of sealed brood and another with eggs and larvae.

So I don't know if the ocimene made any difference - this was just one colony after all so zero degrees of freedom - but I'll definitely try it again if the need arises.

I had another LW colony which was a full hive that I had ASed but the new queen failed to mate or whatever. I did try introducing a queen before they became LW and when I checked them a week later found eggs but didn't spot the new queen. Two weeks later it was obvious the eggs had been laid by workers. I successfully dealt with this colony by uniting with a swarm I had collected ~ 2 weeks earlier, so they had sealed + open brood. There is now worker brood in both brood boxes - ~12 frames. Just in time to miss the main flow

So two LW colonies sorted and I didn't shake out either of them!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks for that.
Really interesting.
I had exactly the same scenario as your second
PS. Where did you buy it from?
It seems like it might have a place in the apiary

 

[E&MBees]

What is Ocimeme please? I had a laying worker colony earlier this year, but was unable to sort them out.

 

[Erichalfbee]

What is Ocimeme please? I had a laying worker colony earlier this year, but was unable to sort them out.

It’s a plant based oil used in perfumes

 

[E&MBees]

It’s a plant based oil used in perfumes

How does it work?

 

[Erichalfbee]

How does it work?

It’s also larval brood pheromone which inhibits worker bees laying.

 

[Erichalfbee]

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0013531

 

[E&MBees]

That’s interesting. I will read up about it. Thanks for the link to the article.

Emily

 

[E&MBees]

It’s also larval brood pheromone which inhibits worker bees laying.

Is it something that is worth having in the bee tool box?

 

[Repwoc]

PS. Where did you buy it from?
It seems like it might have a place in the apiary

I bought it online from PerfumersWorld: https://www.perfumersworld.com/view.php?pro_id=3QC00330

 

[Repwoc]

It’s a plant based oil used in perfumes

I believe it's extracted from oil of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum).

 

[E&MBees]

I bought it online from PerfumersWorld: https://www.perfumersworld.com/view.php?pro_id=3QC00330

Thanks for the link.

Emily

 

[Erichalfbee]

Is it something that is worth having in the bee tool box?

I must admit I am intrigued

I bought it online from PerfumersWorld: https://www.perfumersworld.com/view.php?pro_id=3QC00330

Thank you

You see why this forum is so useful?
Where else do you see stuff like this discussed? Even if it comes to nothing it's been worthwhile

 

[Erichalfbee]

BUMP...... I just found my bottle so thought I'd bump the post

 

[BigAshW]

I used a snelgrove board successfully to unite a colony to a laying worker colony.

The board had a large mesh covered opening that would have allowed the brood pheromone to circulate.

I put the queen right colony on top and moved some brood down for good measure. Then every few days I bled some bees down by swapping the entrances over after a couple of weeks I was able to unite the two colonies. I did put the queen in a cage just as a bit of insurance though.

It was a bit of a faff but that colony has gone through winter so it was worth it for me at the time.

 

[Finman]

Shake them out some distance from your other hives.

What idea is that?.... oh dear. You are not only one who believes to that idea.

All bees will go to the nearest entrance next to their old home. Then fist bees find a new home and invite following bees to follow. It is better to join normally queenless hive to nearest hive.

 

[Finman]

If you have laying workers, give to the hive a frame of young larvae . It stops the worker laying, because bees are able to rear a new queen. When laying has stopped, join the hive to another.

Do not let them rear drones from worker eggs.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you have laying workers, give to the hive a frame of ypung larvae . It stops the worker laying, because bees are able to rear a new queen. When laying has stopped, join the hive to another

This is what the ocimene is for.