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Hi Everyone,
I'd appreciate a quick reply on this question if you can, as I'm off to the farm in a couple of hours.
At the begining of October I joined 2 hives using the newspaper method, usually I just join them and when they've removed the paper let the queens fight it out (strongest survies theory).
Only this time I put a queen excluder between the two hives with the newspaper, about a week ago I checked on the hive and it looks like the two queens are still alive.
Question, To maintain the hive with 2 queens do I have to keep the excluder between them or can it be removed?
The reason I ask is because I want to use the excluder to seperate the brood boxes from the supers and I don't want to use more than one excluder on the hive.
Thanks in advance.
dickm
10-26-2005, 08:12 AM
You might possible get away with it for awhile. Two queens hives are not that uncommon. I'd suggest trying to get a super of honey going over the top one as a queen "discourager." BTW they can sting each other through the single excluder. You problem may be moot. Give them an upper entrance.
Dickm
[ October 26, 2005, 09:14 AM: Message edited by: dickm ]
Michael Bush
10-26-2005, 08:49 AM
Are we talking about over the winter or during the flow? During the winter, eventually the cluster will end up on one side or the other on a cold day and one of the queens will perish.
I've had a two queen hive where I lose one of the queens when using just one excluder. Two bound excluders that leave a space work pretty well. Once they are accepted and laying well, MAYBE they will keep laying for a while and maybe one will disappear. By winter, usually one disappears, if not sooner.
Brent Bean
10-27-2005, 05:03 PM
Also keep in mind if you are using an excluder the queens could be left behind if the cluster moves.
George Fergusson
10-27-2005, 05:20 PM
In Brazil, it must be spring.. so you've got some time to deal with this- clustering and queen isolation shouldn't be an issue. I know nothing about maintaining a 2 queen colony except what I've read- they're usually a temporary situation, you don't keep them like that forever. You'll either end up splitting them back into 2 hives, getting rid of one queen and yanking the excluder.. or yanking the excluder and letting the queens duke it out.
George-
Michael Bush
10-28-2005, 08:43 AM
Ideally you want two queens from early spring until just before the main flow. From that point you're better off with no queen for the next month and then one queen for the rest of the year. The idea is to raise brood before the flow. Have no brood to care for DURING the flow to free up foragers, and have SOME, but not too much brood, to rear fall bees to get through the winter.
Thanks for the replys,
Anyway the queens answered my question for me.
One killed of the other one, Oh well I guess I will try again with another couple of hives next week only this time I'm thinking of either a shallow super and excluder between the hives or just use two excluders, to keep the queens a bit further apart.
And yes it is spring here.
Thanks again.