How long will eggs last without nursing bees

[tbb39]

Last night I got a call from a lady that had a swarm in her tree. She said its been there for about 6 days, do to all the rain we have been getting. Well I cut the branch down that the swarm was on and gave it a shake over my box, dislodging all the bees into the box. well there was 4 peaces about 4 in long of drawn out comb. I kept these comb and today after looking closly at them I seen that some of them had fresh laid eggs in them. will these eggs be any good or over night with out nursing bees?

[Jim Fischer]

The eggs may be OK. They need to be warm, but even the ambient
temperature this time of year may be warm enough. Once the eggs
hatch, then the constant attention is needed, as larvae are hungry
little critters. Feeding would be constant after the egg hatches.
Within 5 days, a larvae increases its body weight by 1000 times over
the hatch-out-of-the-egg weight. In human terms, that means that
a 5-day old infant would weigh 3.5 tons!

Don't worry too much if the eggs have been mishandled, the queen
can lay well over 1000 a day in spring and summer.

[Brent Bean]

Depends on temperature and humidity. If all conditions are good they will hatch into larva and with no food that the nurse bees provide they won’t survive. Try and introduce them into the hive you put the swarm in you have nothing to lose.

[BigDaddyDS]

Eggs are more resilient that we give them credit for.

Typically, they can go from a 93-degrees brood nest to room temperature and be just fine. Last night, however, we got a little chilly. (63-degrees F. on my thermometer, after the thunderstorm moved through.) So, that "may" have been a bit too cold for them.

What is the major killer of eggs (and larvae)? Drying out. As long as the relative humidity remains high, or you keep them wrapped in a wet towel, your eggs should be fine.

Either way, I'd take those pieces of comb, orient them right-side up in the frame and rubber band them into frames. (Or use string, or wire. Whatever.) And wait to see what happens in 6 to 12 days. In this time period, your eggs will turn from tiny little things the size of this exclamation point (!), to grub sized larvae. More toward the 12th day, they'll become capped brood. All these signs point toward your eggs having survived, and you being successful.

Oh! And if they die... Well, you've learned something by watching your bees and brood a little more closely. And that's never a loss either!

DS

[tbb39]

Im thinking about using them in a trapout. I got them in a wet paper towel so ill give it a try.