wheres the eggs gone

[markfitz]

hi everyone just over three and a half weeks ago I split a hive as my biggest hive was about to swarm, i put my queen with brood and honey into a nuc and closed up my main hive and left it be for three weeks, when I inspected it three weeks later there was no sign of any eggs or larva, I didn't see any queen either but im useless at spotting queens, so just to put my mind at ease I put a test frame in from another hive, four days after that I inspected again and i still saw no eggs or larva dispite me putting a test frame full of eggs in just them few days earlier, anyone know what went wrong thanks

 

[Easy Beesy]

Nothing. They obviously think they are ok so leave them for a little while longer. Be patient.

 

[Winker]

If you put a test frame in and there was eggs in it, they would have made queen cells if they were queenless.

You have a queen in there somewhere

 

[oliver90owner]

Eggs hatch in three days and larvae are capped in 9.

Depends on what you mean by 'a few days earlier' or if you really mean four days later.

If the eggs were all about to hatch when you put them in and it was actually 5 days there might be the possibility of all those larvae being capped, but slim. I would have expected some open brood.

I am hoping when you say 'closed up' you simply meant replaced crownboard and roof.

Apart from that it would appear that there is a virgin or newly mated queen in there somewhere. So much like EB really.

 

[oliver90owner]

You have a queen in there somewhere

I expect so but there is always the possibility of laying workers...

 

[itma]

... I put a test frame in from another hive, four days after that I inspected again and i still saw no eggs or larva dispite me putting a test frame full of eggs in just them few days earlier, anyone know what went wrong thanks

You put in eggs and they all disappeared?


The idea of a test frame is that you put in a frame that has eggs and small UNSEALED brood, so that the resident bees could build a QC (or several) from that very fresh brood - *IF* they really were Q-.
Meanwhile, the rest of the brood on that frame (or all of it if there is Q hiding somewhere) should develop normally to larger larvae, be capped and grow into bees.
But you say this has NOT happened?

 

[enrico]

I agree, are you sure you checked the right frame? You make is sound as though all the eggs and larvae have disappeared and that is impossible!
E

 

[Hivemaker.]

If the frame only contained eggs, then the bees will often remove them, use small larvae.

 

[markfitz]

thanks everyone ill take a frame of eggs and larva from my other hive tomorrow and put it in and see what happens