queens not laying

[rober]

I have 2 hives & 2 nucs that were splits started in late june & early july. the hives haven't drawn out the bottom boxes all the way & the nucs are about the same. these are all new marked queens & I have visually verified that they are still in the hives. I've tried feeding 1-1 syrup. these queens just aren't laying. they are from 2 different suppliers. I thinking I might have to combine them nuc over nuc & hive over hive with double screens to get them thru the winter if they even make until fall.

[tecumseh]

is it hot here and do you have any thing blooming?  a queen not laying from one supplier might be easy to explain but to have queens from more than one not laying suggest to me the problem is either environmental or genetic.  are the queens by chance carnis?

[rober]

I believe they are Italian. there's no heavy flow on but I wide variety of things planted that the girls are working. these girls will keep you guessing.

[apisbees]

You said that you are feeding Syrup but is there lots of bees with pollen coming into the hive?

[rober]

all of these hives have small populations. the bees that are there are bringing in some pollen.

[rober]

 one of the single deeps absconded. that's the 2nd new queen to abscond this year. one of the queens has started to lay some & one is still not doing much. the nuc that's laying is taking syrup. the non laying nuc is not.

[rwlaw]

If they were started in late June, chances are, all there is left are older bees and no nurse/house bees. While foragers can take over the roles, they do a poor job of it because their digestive tracks no longer work.
i hate to say rob Peter to pay Paul (and if you have hive that are doing good) but you might want to try a frame of open brood (the smaller the patch the better) and a shake or two of bees at the entrance to give them a kick in the butt and also might stimulate the queens to start laying.

[rober]

I forgot to add that that I did add some brood. it did help with the one nuc.  the mystery is why 2 colonies absconded.

[Perry]

I went to one of my yards yesterday and found a decent swarm hanging in a tree. I hived it and then at the last moment noticed a single story 5 frame nuc nearby seemed quiet. I opened it up to find a queen with maybe 30 or 40 bees and a frame full of capped brood.
Some strange stuff happening lately.