Where do new queens come from at this time of year?

[Halfuncial]

As a new boy I listened carefully on the course to the benefits of requeening in the autumn or the spring. All interesting stuff then. Now however its a bit more urgent! I just inspected my hive for the first time this season only to find no eggs, larvae or queen! I have considered the fact that perhaps i just missed her on the inspection but I can't account for no eggs at this point and they are VERY noisy when I opened them up. More so than at any time last year.

Where does one find a replacement queen at this time of year?! It seems like an unlikely time to find one. Help!

 

[drstitson]

NZ (or perhaps Norton on this forum - he has benefit of med. weather).

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

If it doesnt have to be a 2011 queen you could also look to source a local nuc and combine

 

[taff..]

your profile says you have two colonies, is this the case?

if so you could give your Q- colony a frame of eggs from the other and they can raise their own.

or you could consider combining the two, let them build up in strength and split later in the year to give you your two colonies.

 

[Halfuncial]

No second hive

Excellent idea Taff but I lost one hive in December to Nosema. I now have an empty hive, complete with honey and lots of comb, ready for the next split but no another hive of bees. I ought to amend my profile.

 

[Teemore]

Do you think it a good idea to be putting a new colony into a hive whose previous tenants died of Nosema?

Nosema spores are very difficult to kill and if you are going to offer frames of stores to a new colony from one you believe died out from Nosema, you could well be putting your prospective new colony in contact with frames contaminated with Nosema spores.

Have you a beekeeping mentor? They might be able to provide you with a frame of eggs and larvae to introduce to the failing colony.

 

[Baggyone]

Boil frames and scorch that hive time.

Burco and flamethrower go together really.

 

[taff..]

Excellent idea Taff but I lost one hive in December to Nosema. I now have an empty hive, complete with honey and lots of comb, ready for the next split but no another hive of bees. I ought to amend my profile.

Oh dear, IF this colony survives, it will be worth getting them tested for Nosema as well.

 

[Halfuncial]

Nosema isn't really the issue

Sorry guys, the nosema is not an issue here. I mentioned it only to say that I had two hives but nosema wiped out one of them. The remaining hive has no issue at all with nosema, its just queenless. I'm not moving that colony into the old hive or anything.

I just called my mentor and while he has a spare frame he is also over an hour away by road. I will be talking to some of the guys at the local bee keeping group later to see if i can source a frame of brood/eggs that i can put into my queenless hive.

The old ex-nosema hive is not in use currently. I did irradiate it a month or so back so it is now free of the virus, or any other life come to think of it. its in the garden with the entrance completely blocked at the moment. I'll be introducing a nuke to that later in the season... but thats another issue.

 

[SimonB]

I'll be introducing a nuke to that later in the season...

One way to deal with the nosema

 

[Midland Beek]

I just inspected my hive for the first time this season only to find no eggs, larvae or queen! I have considered the fact that perhaps i just missed her on the inspection but I can't account for no eggs at this point and they are VERY noisy when I opened them up. More so than at any time last year.

Are you sure you actually have a colony and not just a whole load of bees from someone elses apiary robbing out the honey?

Get a queen mated in April and you would have performed some kind of miracle. Hail the Messiah!

 

[Halfuncial]

Nuc

OK, so if I had time I could order a queen from NZ, i could combine the hive with another healthy hive or, my personal favorite right now, i could introduce a frame of brood/eggs from another hive so that my own bees could raise an emergency queen.

What about getting an overwintered nuc and doing the combine hives thing with that? Does it work? Is there something I'm missing?

 

[Halfuncial]

Definitely a colony, not leaving with anything and loads of stores still on.
Hadn't thought about getting a queen mated at this time of year but rather getting a mated queen (by combining hives).

 

[Hivemaker.]

Get a queen mated in April and you would have performed some kind of miracle.

Great,that makes me a worker of miracles as well now.

 

[Haughton Honey]

Now you know what they say around these parts Pete......everyone likes a tight arse, but no-one likes a smart arse!

 

[MuswellMetro]

Get a queen mated in April and you would have performed some kind of miracle.

Great,that makes me a worker of miracles as well now.

do you take them over to the scilly isles for a holiday or is it just that much warmer in Devon

 

[Hivemaker.]

do you take them over to the scilly isles for a holiday or is it just that much warmer in Devon

It's just a very good microclimate in my location MM,about 3 weeks ahead from up over the moors and higher ground, with regards to early forage.
Did a few grafts today as well,started later last year due to the slightly colder spring, so first batch were done on the 13th april.

 

[rae]

Why is getting a queen mated now "a miracle"? I only ask because I have three hives raising queens, one with a sealed cell, one with an uncapped cell and one with eggs.

I have reasonable weather and hordes of drones. Is that not enough?!

 

[Halfuncial]

Well, I suppose I didn't really get an answer!
a very nice chap in Oxon offered to sell me bees to allow me to combine a new hive with my stricken hive. Meanwhile I went to see the very kindly John Hamer over at Blackhorse apriary who made a frame of eggs available to me. I have installed the frame and we will see what my girls do with that frame over the next couple of days. If I simply missed the queen during my inspection and it just so happens that she is there but not in lay for some reason then I suspect they will do nothing more than raise a few new'uns. If i was right and there really is no queen then I'd expect to see an emergency queen on the way in a week. Unfortunately I'm leaving the country for a couple of weeks come Sunday so I guess I'll see what i see when I return. If there are no eggs then I will sort it with a combine or perhaps another frame of eggs but with more likelihood of success in warmer weather.

I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed with the response from the forum. The first couple of replies I received were very helpful but then it seemed to go downhill fast. As a complete novice at the end of my first winter as a beekeeper I would have thought that the posts would continue in the helpful vein they started. It seems that a lot of people have forgotten how desperate one feels having lost a colony and being on the verge of losing the rest if you don't do the right thing. Its made all the worse by the desire not to let your livestock down.

Thank you very much indeed to those who posted comments in an attempt to help.

 

[oliver90owner]

Where does one find a replacement queen at this time of year?!

Were the answers not in the first three replies?

I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed with the response from the forum.

How many times do you need the answers repeating?

You seemed to know the answer already and the predicament you were in, when you wrote: It seems like an unlikely time to find one. Help! I thought that message was reinforced by some.

Am I now to believe you were only looking for the sympathy responses (and/or that you had your dead-out hive irradiated)?

I thought post #9 summed things up reasonably for me. You then contacted your mentor. Who should have been your first port of call? Yes, your mentor.

After that you seemed to know all the answers, even though not from sentence to sentence in the same post (#12)

Well, I suppose I didn't really get an answer!

Rewind to page 1, first three replies.