Author Topic: Laying worker hive  (Read 4896 times)

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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Laying worker hive
« on: August 05, 2019, 07:54:58 pm »
What's the best way to introduce new Q ? Quick?

Offline iddee

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2019, 08:25:39 pm »
If for sure laying worker, it's too late. Shake them out 100 ft. from the hives and put the boxes away for the winter.
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Offline Jen

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2019, 02:28:41 am »
Ditto
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Online Bakersdozen

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2019, 10:37:28 am »
I have to agree.  I have tried introducing a new queen and it didn't work.  Waste of time and resources.

Offline Jen

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2019, 12:24:54 pm »
Although I will say this, I have had some luck with laying worker hives, when the laying is 'just starting'. But I added two frames of fresh brood from another hive, and introduced the queen in her cage right between those frames, and left her there for 5 days. When she is released on day 5, I add another frame of brood and nurse bees. It works! but you have to have the brood frame resources to spare, and the time to spend watching. When I have checked her progress within a week of release, she is on the brood frames with the new nurse bees, and the working layers eggs have dried up.
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Offline iddee

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2019, 02:08:51 pm »
It would be better to just add the queen to 3 brood frames in a nuc and shake the bees out and let them take up with the nuc. Easier, safer, and quicker.
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2019, 05:20:33 pm »
That's what I was thinking about doing. Would you shake bee's off brood frames that are used or will laying worker bee take care of everything? I was thinking of adding a new box on top of laying worker hive with 2 inch winter feeder shim and laying new Q in her cage on top of brood frames ?

Offline iddee

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2019, 06:24:03 pm »
Do what you want. Thay are your bees. I gave my opinion in reply #1.
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline Jen

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2019, 01:49:43 am »
Mikey, figure this into the equation... the working layers are already getting old, by now there are no nurse bees left in the hive, and they will just leave drones in the hive and the hive will die.

The idea of the brood frames with the nurse bees is to add the scent of young nurse bees into the hive again. Then place a new queen in between those two brood/nurse bee frames, and the hive will start to smell like the new queens pheromones. But like I said it takes time for a hive to revive using a method like this. Personally, I like watching a hive come back to life.

However, Iddee's suggestion is a good one! I hadn't thought of this idea before. He's right, it would be easier and quicker.
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Offline tecumseh

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2019, 01:12:24 pm »
I do something like Iddee but with a twist.  I typically knock out the bees (almost anywhere), add the equipment to a well populated hive, wait a day or two and then do a split and add the queen.  With a bit of thought you (and something like a queen excluder, a  double screen or a device made for doing a Cloake Board you can do this without really knocking the well populated hive down (as you might if you took the typical approach to making up nucs).  At some point you can divide the two units and level any food resources between the two halves.
 
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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #10 on: August 08, 2019, 07:31:08 pm »
Update , just walked in house after inspection 7:15 pm.
It's a 2 ten deep, 4 th frame in top 10, bam she was running like crazy, had flat capped brood , my concern was pop corn outer brood,  and I seen inner lavae that was not capped , now capped and it's flat, couldn't find her the other day😄 . Have new Q coming tomorrow , so time for late split. Wish me luck any advice please!!

Offline Jen

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #11 on: August 08, 2019, 09:16:45 pm »
How many hives do you have Mikey?
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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #12 on: August 08, 2019, 09:59:46 pm »
3 strong ones plus that one

Offline Jen

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #13 on: August 08, 2019, 11:02:15 pm »
This is what I would do: This way you don't have to do a full-on split.

From your three strong hives, take one frame of capped brood 'with nurse bees' from each hive, making sure you don't have a queen on any of the three. Set them in the middle of a nuc box. Put a good frame of honey on one side, and an empty drawn wax frame on the other side. When new queen shows up at your door, introduce her to this nuc and leave her in her cage for 5 full days.

Badda Bing Baby! you have a new home for your new queen!

When I do a combination like this, I go into my hives looking for a nice frame of brood with nurse bees... but I search for the queen first! and make Sure she stays in her own hive.
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Offline tecumseh

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2019, 05:44:11 am »
a snip..
she was running like crazy, had flat capped brood , my concern was pop corn outer brood,

>I would suggest you go slowly here and would pose one question to you... did the queen look smallish? If yes this would suggest she is new and perhaps the hive has just now produced a replacement. flat brood would suggest the queen is laying and at about the time a new queen begins to lay you could still see a bit of drone brood from the previous queen.



Offline Jen

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #15 on: August 09, 2019, 12:37:06 pm »
Excellent advice Tech  :) And if she's a virgin, or a girl queen, she might not be fully mated, which can take time, beings there aren't as many drones this time of year.
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Offline tecumseh

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #16 on: August 09, 2019, 07:17:27 pm »
correct Jen.  young queens move pretty fast and virgins even faster.  drone population and individual drones sperm viability will vary greatly depending on location and nutrition.

Offline Jen

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #17 on: August 10, 2019, 12:20:37 pm »
Yes, I know here in upper northern Calif, even spring and early summer the weather is precarious, extreme fluctuations of warm, cold, wet, sunny, stormy weather. However, if you are a patient beekeeper, I have found th queens eventually get the mating job done.
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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #18 on: August 10, 2019, 02:35:44 pm »
Update, the great ol USPS can't find her 5 day's later.
She was in Greensboro N.C. on Thursday, the day she was supposed to be delivered, they still don't know where she's at.

Offline tedh

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Re: Laying worker hive
« Reply #19 on: August 10, 2019, 09:52:26 pm »
Sorry to hear that mikey.
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