I have a very large hive (in number of bees) so many bees coming and going, impossible to count them. I tore it down recently and discovered no brood, no queen. The hive without brood to care for gathered much honey and filled all available space.
I don't plan to purchase a queen for this hive.
How best to utiilize this hive? as opposed to allowing it to slowly die without a queen.
My thoughts are to put in a frame of eggs and let them make one, but if it takes 24 days to make a laying queen.
The options are A) Buy a queen, B) Let them raise a queen from eggs you provide, C) Hope that they have already raised a queen and she will starting laying shortly, D) Combine E) Let them dwindle.
Maybe give them another couple of weeks and check again for eggs or brood. If still nothing, beef up other hives with them. Since the numbers are so high, I'd hold out for a replacement being in there yet. However, if there truly are no empty cells, that can't be too good. Did you look down in the bottom box too?
sounds like this hive swarmed, put a frame of eggs and young larva in and see if they draw out Q-cells, if they dont you have a young queen in there , odds are you have a young queen already and she just hasnt got going good yet....
ted, you were right - had a young queen there...I saw here running around in there as I was parting the frames of honey out to nucs. So I left enough for that hive to make it, and will watch for that new queen to start laying.
Well FordGuy.... I would break them down into single story hives and place a frame of eggs in the queenless colonies... thant you have some nivce increases!!!
For some reason... I am increase happy latley... whats wrong with me???
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