going to do a shake out, need advice

[spiritfreedom]

So, since I obviously have a laying worker and have come up dry in getting worker brood from other beeks, here's the shake-out procedure I'm following:

I am going to dismantle my hive, load them into a pick-up truck, drive them a mile away, shake out the bees, drive the empty hive back to my house and set it up where it was before.

I finally found a source for a queen, a carneolian. She'll go into the empty hive in her cage.

The foragers make their way back to the hive and when they get there, they'll encounter the new queen in her little cage. In a perfect world, days later when they successfully removes the sugar cube, they will accept her and allow her to start laying eggs in their hive.

My question is how do I treat the comb? There will be eggs and larvae and all manner of disorder from the laying worker. Should I leave some frames out and replace them with new ones? Leave them ALL out?

[gmcharlie]

I wouldn't worry a bit about the comb... they will fix it themselves....

I also IMO, would not go more than 100 yards..... at a mile I don't belive ANY of the bees will make it back... as they have absolutly no markers to follow....


about 50 yards being what I would suggest

[spiritfreedom]

Really?!? I thought bees traveled up to three miles to forage if they need to. I thought I was being cautious by only going a mile away. Huh...

[gmcharlie]

they do... but they (IMO) won't reconize where there are. and not very many actually travel that far.

[MapMan]

When I've had laying workers, and gone through trying to get them to rise their own queen, as a last resort, I've shaken them out. I've only gone about 200-300 feet away, and I've always been amazed at how fast they get back to the hive. Put the queen in a cage, and you should be all set to go, especially if a flow is on. No need to go a mile away... I was eight for eight last season.


MM