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Author Topic: Attempt at letting them create a new queen  (Read 11203 times)

Offline texanbelchers

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Re: Attempt at letting them create a new queen
« Reply #20 on: September 28, 2015, 07:19:39 pm »
I've started using a queen "includer" for a week on my removals.  Once they have been able to clean up and the queen starts laying they seem happy to stay.  SHB Oil trays help a lot also, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue with a swarm.  The unfortunate thing is that a queen prepped to swarm may not be stopped by an includer/excluder.

Offline Duane

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Re: Attempt at letting them create a new queen
« Reply #21 on: October 13, 2015, 01:41:18 pm »
The other day I had looked through the parent box, and still no eggs or larva, but I did see the queen!  The new box had a small amount of larva.  So maybe they shut down for awhile?  Seems like a good thing to reduce mites.

Offline Duane

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Re: Attempt at letting them create a new queen
« Reply #22 on: May 03, 2016, 09:22:08 pm »
I'm adding to this thread since this mirrors the problem I had before in not being able to see queen cells.

This time, I found the queen in my other hive and took her and a frame of brood and a frame with honey and another partial frame.  The parent hive I left alone.  I call this day 0.

On day 8, I looked in to count how many queen cells I had, to know how many boxes to get ready.  I looked carefully for queen cells on each frame.  Couldn't see any.  I just knew at the last frame that's where they'd be.  But no.  And then I saw what looked like eggs.  At least for sure, there were very small larva.

What's going on here or what possibilities could there be?  Shouldn't on day 8 the last egg have been capped or at least close to it?

Now, day 19, I found mostly capped drone brood.  Very little capped worker.  Still lots of workers flying in and out.

I'm thinking of cutting out a little patch of eggs from the new box and placing in the parent box, just in case.  Why they wouldn't raise a queen from the worker eggs, I don't know.  That is, assuming it's true I didn't see the queen cells.

Offline Psparr

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Re: Attempt at letting them create a new queen
« Reply #23 on: May 03, 2016, 10:25:05 pm »
I'm adding to this thread since this mirrors the problem I had before in not being able to see queen cells.

This time, I found the queen in my other hive and took her and a frame of brood and a frame with honey and another partial frame.  The parent hive I left alone.  I call this day 0.

On day 8, I looked in to count how many queen cells I had, to know how many boxes to get ready.  I looked carefully for queen cells on each frame.  Couldn't see any.  I just knew at the last frame that's where they'd be.  But no.  And then I saw what looked like eggs.  At least for sure, there were very small larva.

What's going on here or what possibilities could there be?  Shouldn't on day 8 the last egg have been capped or at least close to it?

Now, day 19, I found mostly capped drone brood.  Very little capped worker.  Still lots of workers flying in and out.

I'm thinking of cutting out a little patch of eggs from the new box and placing in the parent box, just in case.  Why they wouldn't raise a queen from the worker eggs, I don't know.  That is, assuming it's true I didn't see the queen cells.
Unless you had a two queen hive.

Offline Duane

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Re: Attempt at letting them create a new queen
« Reply #24 on: May 09, 2016, 05:21:21 pm »
I wondered about that.

I did cut a patch of eggs out and stuck on the edge of the comb in the parent box.  After a few days, no sign of it.  Lots of drone brood, like all 8 frames of the top box of the two boxes.  So the thought crossed my mind that the old queen was having problems, I happened to pull the new queen out, and now they're stuck with the old drone laying queen?

Anyway, for whatever I did wrong, there's not enough bees in the box with the queen I pulled out.  I had shook bees from a additional frame of brood in it, but it didn't seem to help.  Would they have flown out?  The new hive was only a few feet away.

Now I'm thinking about adding more bees to it.  This becomes a question I had in the past.  However, that queen might have been bad, but I'm convinced this queen is good, was good until I messed things up, and given a chance, she'll do just fine.  This was my most active box.  So with so few of bees, adding a frame of equal or more bees, will that cause problems? 

I'm thinking of putting a frame of bees, (from another hive since the original box has capped drone brood), in an empty box overnight, then shaking them into the box with the queen.  The idea being that once they're queenless, they'll be more receptive?

Offline Duane

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Re: Attempt at letting them create a new queen
« Reply #25 on: May 10, 2016, 10:42:08 am »
Right or wrong, I kept the frame in an empty box overnight and then this morning I noticed there were lots of bees still on the frame so I inserted the whole thing in the box with the queen.  The bees from the frame looked at the bees in the box and wiggled their antennae and didn't seem aggressive.  But quite a few of the bees on the frame started scenting.  I've noticed this before when I would pull a frame out and set to the side to make room for inspections.  When placing the frame back in, several started scenting like saying they found their way home.  I put them there and there were no more elsewhere.  Seems odd to me.  Is this normal, should I be worried about the frame I put in?

Offline Duane

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Re: Attempt at letting them create a new queen
« Reply #26 on: May 24, 2016, 08:46:54 pm »
They seemed to accept the new frame, the queen is still there and seems to be laying more eggs.  There was one frame with eggs and not much else so I moved that back to the parent hive.  After a few days, I checked and no queen cells.  Lot's of drone brood.  I can't find the queen nor any open brood besides what I put in.  Anyone know what's going on? 

 

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