What brood farm to put in?

[nickysolar]

My mentor is currently away (just when i need him!) so......
AS done few weeks ago, new queen seen last week.This morning a neighbour alerted me to a swarm on a tree next to my apiary. Tried without luck to catch it, but thought i better check my hives.
Parent hive all is well, daughter hive has a hatched queen cell that I must have missed or wasn't there last week. This cell was on the frame not at the bottom. I did see a queen (small so presumably unmated) and she is a different colour to the one i saw last week.
Anyhow, the poor loves have no brood at all now and it will be a while before the new queen will be laying so Im thinking I could put a frame of brood in from the parent hive (correct??) if so, larva? eggs?
They have about 5 or 6 frames of food left and foragers seen today with pollen.
Id be very grateful for advice, Many Thanks

 

[RogueDrone]

Personally I would go for a frame of sealed brood . They cannot make new queen from it and the emerging bees will be nurse bees to help raise you new queens brood.

 

[MuswellMetro]

i would not move brood but just leave the new queen to mate and the bees in that hive to raise her offspring

By moving a frame of larva or brood from the queen right hive you are weakening the queen right hive just when it needs most bees to collect the july nectar flow ( eggs laid now will be foragers on the 18th july)

The virgin hive is never going to get honey this year, its sole purpose is to raise a queen *(which it has done) and once the virgin is mated and proved fecund then you can kill the old queen and combine the hives....otherwise over time you will have too many hives

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

i would not move brood but just leave the new queen to mate and the bees in that hive to raise her offspring

By moving a frame of larva or brood from the queen right hive you are weakening the queen right hive just when it needs most bees to collect the july nectar flow ( eggs laid now will be foragers on the 18th july)

The virgin hive is never going to get honey this year, its sole purpose is to raise a queen *(which it has done) and once the virgin is mated and proved fecund then you can kill the old queen and combine the hives....otherwise over time you will have too many hives

 

[nickysolar]

They have no brood at all now, couple with the delay new Queen becoming active (owing to their 1st Q swarming off who would have started laying by now) won't this risk colony collapse? By the time the new queen starts laying, the current nurse bees will become foragers and there won't be any nurse bees to tend brood. Please correct me if Ive got this wrong. Thanks

 

[MuswellMetro]

They have no brood at all now, couple with the delay new Queen becoming active (owing to their 1st Q swarming off who would have started laying by now) won't this risk colony collapse? By the time the new queen starts laying, the current nurse bees will become foragers and there won't be any nurse bees to tend brood. Please correct me if Ive got this wrong. Thanks

nurse bees don't age if they are not nursing and older bees can if really necessary revert to earlier modes,

There can only be 7 days difference in the age of first queen and the second queen and in inclement weather mating can take four weeks and none of my new queen hives have brood now due to last weeks inclement weather @11c

if you are worried dummy them down to five frames making sure you have two pollen and two clear brood and one stores and review in seven days

There is an old beekeepers saying that a new queen doesnt lay until all the old queen's brood has emerged, not quite true but a good rule of thumb

 

[beeno]

Hi nichysolar,
What you have got in the AS now is OK. You have got a virgin that needs to get mated that is good news and at this stage no colonies have any brood to speak of. Leave well alone is my message for 14 days (don't you all fall to the ground now) she and the colony need peace and quiet. The only thing I would be concerned about is if you don't have enough bees in the box? Once she starts laying you can introduce her in a queen cage to a nuc you have made up if there is a lack of bees in the present hive. Shame you missed a QC, but it happens to all of us. Good luck enjoy.

 

[nickysolar]

Hi nichysolar,
What you have got in the AS now is OK. You have got a virgin that needs to get mated that is good news and at this stage no colonies have any brood to speak of. Leave well alone is my message for 14 days (don't you all fall to the ground now) she and the colony need peace and quiet. The only thing I would be concerned about is if you don't have enough bees in the box? Once she starts laying you can introduce her in a queen cage to a nuc you have made up if there is a lack of bees in the present hive. Shame you missed a QC, but it happens to all of us. Good luck enjoy.

I will what you suggest, despite the loss there still remains a large covering on the frames.
I managed to capture half a swarm this morning that I believe is Q- the other half was spotted on a hedge but went before i could get there. Anyhow they are safely tucked up in a nut so I could merge these over a sheet of newspaper in a couple of weeks if they remain in the nuc.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I will what you suggest, despite the loss there still remains a large covering on the frames.
I managed to capture half a swarm this morning that I believe is Q- the other half was spotted on a hedge but went before i could get there. Anyhow they are safely tucked up in a nut so I could merge these over a sheet of newspaper in a couple of weeks if they remain in the nuc.

bet you there's a virgin in that swarm as well.
As for the hive with a virgin in. I'd leave well alone until at least three weeks after you think she emerged, and I wouldn't be too worried then if she hasn't started laying.