Hi Ann, yes, just as soon as the situation becomes clear I will rescue the
honey. Fingers crossed they work it out.
From: oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Ann Welch
Sent: 29 June 2020 12:46
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Queenless Hive
Hi Kerry,
I know this won't help the situation for the bees but if it does turn out that
they're not queen right and you end up with a hive full of only drones, the
hive will be taken over by wax moth very quickly so if you want to rescue some
of the capped honey then do it sooner rather than later. It will happen
quickly even whilst there seems to be plenty of drones coming and going because
they won't defend or clean the hive the way the workers do, so don't wait until
the bees are dead and gone because there will be no honey left to rescue but do
make sure they're not queen right first.
BW Ann
On 29/06/2020 12:18, Kerry Dawson wrote:
Yes, you are right, another inspection only satisfies my curiosity and won’t
change anything. I’ll leave alone and see what happens. Thanks for your
advice.
From: oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx><mailto:oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Oxnatbees
Sent: 29 June 2020 12:13
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Queenless Hive
Kerry,
Another inspection won't solve / change anything, but it will disrupt them.
Whilst we humans have "need to know " and "need to help" drives, in this case,
as you cannot transfer brood, their best chance is to let them sort things out
alone.
I'm not sure they will recover, but they might.
Standard advice is to open & interfere, but if a honey crop is not critical to
you, you will learn more by seeing how they progress now. Fortunately, if the
colony dies you have the other. I know this sounds brutal, but if you were to
(say) re-queen them with a commercial queen of a different, non-local race,
this colony would in effect die anyway, as its members were replaced by the new
queen's children.
Paul
On Mon, 29 Jun 2020, 11:58 Kerry Dawson,
<kerrydawson99@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:kerrydawson99@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi,
I am unable to transfer a frame of brood from my other hive (Golden) as it has
very large frames and they wont fit in the TBH. Also, that colony is very
defensive and I’m not keen on upsetting them.
When the weather is a bit more settled, I’ll do another inspection to check for
eggs again. Although, there isn’t much room for a queen to lay as the combs
are full of uncapped honey. I’ll also do a rap test later today.
Thanks for the responses, and good luck to Gary and Karen with your colonies.
Kerry
From: oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> On
Behalf Of Oxnatbees
Sent: 29 June 2020 08:44
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Queenless Hive
It's odd that there are no drone larvae - no "curly pearlies" at all.
The fact they have not built more comb is not alarming. They will have plenty
of empty comb to use before they need more, because swarms take honey with
them. Bees build comb when needed, not continuously.
I think the "cure" for drone laying workers is to transfer in a comb of brood +
eggs (not eggs alone). You should google that to check I am right. The smell of
the brood triggers their nursing instincts. The fact that your other hive is a
different type is not a show stopper: you can simply put a frame in at right
angles to the TBH comb (!) - not ideal but, crucially, a rapid transfer which
does not chill the brood. The bees will smell & cover it to keep it warm; it
should ideally be wedged upright so no larvae fall out. Don't faff around
trying to cut a frame to the right shape/ size and tying it to a bar, you will
probably just kill and chill the brood on it in the current weather.
Paul
On Sun, 28 Jun 2020 at 22:42, Ann Welch
<ann.welch123@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:ann.welch123@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi Kerry, Could be that the queen didn't mate properly so has herself become a
drone layer. Usually if the workers are laying there will be multiple eggs in
cells and they're not usually right down at the bottom but laid on the sides of
the cells. Are you sure there are no eggs visible at all?
Ann
On 28/06/2020 22:31, Kerry Dawson wrote:
Dear All,
Since swarming on 2 May and again on 8 May, I have been observing the bees in
my tbh to see if all was progressing as it should. The remaining bees were
still plentiful and purposeful, but it seemed strange that, after several
weeks, they were not building new comb and numbers despite the good weather and
foraging activity.
A couple of days ago I decided to do a full inspection. I found no eggs and no
brood. The combs are full of nectar and there are capped drone cells, so I
think workers are laying.
My question is what to do? Would introducing some eggs from another hive
encourage them to make a new queen, or has too much time passed for this? Also,
I can't easily transfer brood from my other hive, as it is not a tbh.
It is very sad to watch the colony decline. Any help and advice welcome.
Kerry
