What to do with my naughty colony.

[Tarahill]

They'll do their best. But remember they are already the older bees. By the time the queen has emerged, got mated, and started laying, you will be asking bees that are already near the end of their life to be nurse bees again.

Thanks, some young bees and larvae on a frame with brood at all stages...

 

[Sutty]

Just musing an idea - I'd like more experienced views in this idea....

How about moving them, leaving a box in original site to attract flying bees.
Then shake/brush all the rest into a couple of brood boxes with an excluder between them. Smoke down and remove the queen. This would leave you with frames of brood and stores. Leave these overnight to chill and die (or put in a freezer for a bit as you don't want vicious queen's progeny around for long.
Combine the two boxes. Next day give back the frames of now dead brood, which the bees should clean up quickly as a strong colony, along with a frame of eggs from a well-behaved colony.
You would then have a strong colony, hopelessly queenless, with a very large number of nurse bees to raise great emergency queen cells. Reduce to one or split as you wish.

 

[Sutty]

Just remembered - already queenless!!
I'd partly been thinking of a way to render immediately hopelessly queenless, rather than in 6 days, and to get them to make emergency cells with lots of nurse bees around.

 

[Tarahill]

Part of the job done anyway. I closed them in, moved the 2 brood boxes, set up a new brood box on the old stand, added the honey supers and let the bees out of the old hive. 2 smokers just in case, nitrile and latex gloves, 3 layers of clothes and plenty of masking tape around cuffs and zips. Wasn't too bad except for someone apparently hurling handfuls of gravel at me. No stings!
I'll let them settle for a day before setting them up with brood from another hood, grafts etc.