Laying Worker/Late Season

[pbwhite]

First year beekeeper. My hive has not been queenright for two months, despite attempting to introduce a new queen.

I made the decision last month that it was too late in the season (Massachusetts) to attempt to right the ship, and thus am ready to let things run their course.

However, with an active laying worker(s), I've still got larvae, and a fair amount of bees (mostly drones) in the hive. I still have nectar and pollen coming in, but would imagine that many of the young will end up malnourished, etc. as the number of workers wanes.

Am I better off doing something, rather than just letting the drones die off? Will that make it better/worse for next spring when I introduce a new package?

[Ravenseye]

The odds are good that you won't make it over the winter. Do you have another hive? If so, I'd do a combine. Did that last year and all was well in the spring.

[wcubed]

Yes. Drawn comb is valuable. Protect it. I recommend all new beekeepers invest in a chest freezer for just that purpose. Even comb infested with all the known boogers, when frozen, can be repaired by the bees more efficiently than starting from scratch.

Don't be discouraged. I personally had two false starts, and when I got rolling, T mites killed 8 of 10. Hang in!

Walt W.

[indypartridge]

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I'm gonna disagree on the combine. It's usually not a good idea to combine laying workers with a queenright hive, you run a risk of messing up the good hive. I'd probably just let them die out. If there were still a reasonable number of workers, I'd take them across the yard and shake them all out.

[pbwhite]

I do not have a hive to combine with - and I come to terms with the plan to let them die out :eek:

I just wanted to know if I was better off doing 'something' rather than nothing.

There aren't many workers left in the hive - but perhaps the idea of shaking off the frames is worth looking at - I'm assuming that means the drones will not likely make it back to the hive?

[BuzzinBerries]

[
It's usually not a good idea to combine laying workers with a queenright hive, you run a risk of messing up the good hive.

I second that. I'm a first year beek and combined a laying worker hive with a good one back in June and then the good hive went queenless. Requeened and they superceded twice since then and now they are queenless again. I have no problem giving their stores to another hive, saving the extra frames for next year and letting these idiots die. Sooo frustrating!

[Ravenseye]

Laying worker hives are never easy. An active hive with decent brood and a good queen often produces enough pheromone to stop laying workers. Shaking out is fine but a hive with very few bees will pretty much be empty after the shakeout. Done right, a combine will work. However, with only one hive the question is moot. Save your comb and stores and plan for the future!

[pbwhite]

However, with only one hive the question is moot. Save your comb and stores and plan for the future!

I appreciate all of the insight of everyone. My question now is how best to save the comb/stores. Is it sufficient to simply let them die off, and then put the hive into storage, or should I be more proactive - perhaps shaking them out now, and putting the hive into storage for the winter?

[Ravenseye]

Some of this depends on how you plan on storing the comb. There are more than a few possibilities and they include freezing comb, various applications of treatments, etc. Do a search for storing comb to get an idea. If I had the hive and planned on letting it go, I would keep it up and running for as long as possible and watch the progress. You learn a lot more by watching than by reading posts here. If you start seeing wax moths, your hive can't keep them out and it's time to treat / freeze or whatever before the situation gets bad. I treat stored comb with BT and keep the frames in my COLD barn. I swear, that place stays cold forever.