What happens to a queen who doesn’t get mated?

[Swift Nick]

2 of my hives that were artificially swarmed will have new queens any day now, so I presume they will be ready to mate next week. However the weather is going to be 15 deg C max for the next 10 days. The forecast shows some improvement after that.
Can a queen wait 2 weeks to mate? If no, does she become a drone layer or do the worker bees kill her?

 

[Boston Bees]

How long does my Queen have to mate? | Beekeeping Forum

There may be more up to date threads

But yes, I believe she can wait 2 weeks and maybe more?

The answer to your final question is that she would become a drone layer. The workers wouldn't kill her as there would be no point.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I wouldn't worry until at least four weeks.
I wouldn't be too obsessed with the temperature either - 15 degrees is luxury.
If she doesn't mate she'll start laying only drones - then it's time to get rid. By that time, your bees are getting old so rather than waste money on a bought in queen, I would squish her and shake them all out.

 

[Swift Nick]

I wouldn't worry until at least four weeks.
I wouldn't be too obsessed with the temperature either - 15 degrees is luxury.
If she doesn't mate she'll start laying only drones - then it's time to get rid. By that time, your bees are getting old so rather than waste money on a bought in queen, I would squish her and shake them all out.

Thanks, looks like they may get mated okay.
Good advice on the bought queen.

 

[DRam]

If she doesn't mate she'll start laying only drones - then it's time to get rid. By that time, your bees are getting old so rather than waste money on a bought in queen, I would squish her and shake them all out.

When you say 'shake them all out' is this in front of another hive or where, and why wouldn't you try and combine using the newspaper method.

We had a drone laying queen last year, it was from a small caste swarm we were given. We got rid of the queen and then tried to combine that colony with another colony using the newspaper method, and somehow in that process the good queen vanished. We ended up with no end of problems with led to the demise of that colony also. Should we have shaken out the bees rather than combined?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

When you say 'shake them all out' is this in front of another hive or where, and why wouldn't you try and combine using the newspaper method.

We had a drone laying queen last year, it was from a small caste swarm we were given. We got rid of the queen and then tried to combine that colony with another colony using the newspaper method, and somehow in that process the good queen vanished. We ended up with no end of problems with led to the demise of that colony also. Should we have shaken out the bees rather than combined?

I think you answered your own question

 

[DRam]

Thanks, but why is 'shaking out' preferable to combining through paper, and what determines what method you should use.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thanks, but why is 'shaking out' preferable to combining through paper, and what determines what method you should use.

Less hassle and faff. You shake the bees out and they disperse and then beg their way into the other hives within minutes The only time I unite is if it's a straighforward uniting of two healthy brooded colonies

 

[Ian123]

I expect most of mine to mate within 2 weeks of emerging. After that the odds go down hill rapidly. Ian

 

[oliver90owner]

The previous very poor spring (little nectar from OSR until late May - even though it started blooming late March) had some queens not starting to lay until 7 weeks after emergence. It may have been because of the poor weather - because the forage income was simply insufficient to support brood, but more likely because mating was seriously delayed. Of course, there would have been lots of drone-layers, as well.

 

[user 819]

My longest wait for a laying Q was 5 weeks.

 

[Joe Bee]

I think you answered your own question

In the case of a drone laying queen it is not necessary to shake out the bees if you intend uniting them. If the queen is removed and the colony is left queenless for 3 or 4 days uniting the queenless and queen right colony's is the logical route to take if there are sufficient worker in the queenless colony to justify uniting.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

In the case of a drone laying queen it is not necessary to shake out the bees if you intend uniting them. If the queen is removed and the colony is left queenless for 3 or 4 days uniting the queenless and queen right colony's is the logical route to take if there are sufficient worker in the queenless colony to justify uniting.

but if you do shake them out, it saves the faff of
a) finding the queen
b) fiddling around with uniting then amalgamating the two boxes.
Leaving the colony queenless for a few days is definitely not the logical route to doing it.there's going to be no worker larvae anyway so no need to go down the tortuous route of waiting for them to be 'hopelessly queenless'
If you must unite, it is not necessary to wait a few days after disposing of the queen, kill queen and do it immediately, even if you had a fertile queen - .

 

[Joe Bee]

but if you do shake them out, it saves the faff of
a) finding the queen
b) fiddling around with uniting then amalgamating the two boxes.
Leaving the colony queenless for a few days is definitely not the logical route to doing it.there's going to be no worker larvae anyway so no need to go down the tortuous route of waiting for them to be 'hopelessly queenless'
If you must unite, it is not necessary to wait a few days after disposing of the queen, kill queen and do it immediately, even if you had a fertile queen - .

Why shake them out. As you have a reduced colony due to drone laying it would be a simple process to finding the queen. I dont think putting a sheet of newspaper above a brood box and putting a brood box on top is either fiddley or complicated. Lastly I disagree with your theory of remove a queen fertile or not and replace her immediately with a new queeen, as this would almost guarantee that the new queen would be killed by the workers. I have undertaken this process many times over the years and it almost always works. I have always had the view that if a colony is worth saving it is worth the effort.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I disagree with your theory of remove a queen fertile or not and replace her immediately with a new queeen, as this would almost guarantee that the new queen would be killed by the workers.

You're perfectly entitled to your opinion - even if it may be wrong.
I have united countless colonies whilst waiting only a few minutes after despatching the unwanted queen, not lost the other queen whilst doing it once.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have introduced queens to hopelessly queen less colonies, and straight in after removing the queen. The only time it didn't work was once in a hopelessly queen less colony, and even there the queen was in a push-in cage.
As soon as she was out they killed her and raised queen cells on the eggs she laid in the cage
I do though leave the tab in for three days.
A big colony I unite a depleted colony get shaken out. Sometimes you simply can't find the queen.