Hi All, I have a hive that has been very aggressive for about the last year. I think the queen was getting some age on her. I split this hive this year as it was very strong and put a new queen in the split, which is doing great. I worked the hive this morning and could not find a queen or any eggs. Also the number of bees were way down. I am wondering if I might of had a swarm and the old queen and some of the workers have left. Is this what happens when the queen gets some age on her? Dale in S. E. Kansas
It sounds as though they've swarmed, I've had the same experience myself. Once a swarm settles it's surprisingly difficult to spot, but sometimes you can see bees flying around the spot. I lost one a while ago, with an unmarked new queen, and I'm pretty sure they're the same bees that occupied one of my empty hives, so don't give up on them just yet. Did the change in temper happen just after requeening or supecedure?
Thanks Robert for the reply. I was mowing close to the hive about 2 weeks ago and got stung several times. That is the last time I have had contact with them. I had split the hive about 6 weeks ago with a new queen and moved that hive off to a friends place. We opened the hive yesterday to check and we couldn't see any eggs or find a queen. Also they were away down in numbers. That is the reason that I thought they may of swarmed. Will they raise a new queen without any eggs? Dale
If they've got no eggs they can't raise a queen. Have they any queen cells? If not, do you have another hive you could take a frame of eggs and young larvae from?
This is the only hive that I have at this location. I guess it is possible that I might of missed seeing eggs. Might have to get a frame of eggs from a friend. Dale
I forgot to tell you that we didn't see any queen cells. Dale
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