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Robbing occurred...two or three alive bees and the queen

3K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Nature's Spectacle 
#1 ·
So my weak hive (one of two total) got robbed of all the honey and pollen stores, and all the bees are piled up dead in front of the hive, except for a few...maybe those are robbers too, I'm not sure. I noticed around two or three bees left in the hive and the queen walking around!! It's my fault because they were fine until I started Mason-Jar feeding them to make up for a non-existent nectar flow now.

I have a very strong hive right next to it (Thiefs!) that filled up three deeps already...and the population there is doing splendidly. I've got those three deeps and one super (which they arent drawing yet) on that strong one.

I was wondering what I could possibly do to save the queen, keeping in mind the weak hive has no stores to speak of, its mid August, and I'm in a cold climate (Wisconsin) - I'm assuming its too late to split? The weak hive had drawn out 6 of the 10 frames (which are now empty of honey or pollen, with all the comb looking very dark from what I'm assuming is the result of the robbing and trampling that occured )

How can I keep the remaining queen alive? She was walking around with no attendants really. I've closed up the hive and have added a pollen patty and syrup until I figure out my next move . Should I whisk her and a few frames of brood/pollen/honey and set her in a nuc for winter? Or just call it a loss and let her die? Or split my strong hive and grab one of the deeps and newspaper split it?

My wife suggested I keep the strong hive strong and not takeaway split one of the three deeps to put it on the weak dead hive. She thinks that will just imperil the strong hive's chances of survival in our brutal winters.

Any suggestions? I don't have the money to buy another package, and I don't want to waste a good queen...

BTW, I think the weak hive was weak because of a package install error (I left the (now strong) hive propped open so when I shook in the bees, they went to where it was easiest. In other words, I don't believe the queen was failing.
 
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#2 ·
you can start a 5 frame nuc with the remaining queen, some capped brood and stores from the strong hive and try to overwinter that or you do what the old saying says "take your losses in the fall" and get the strong hive through winter and do a split in the spring so that you are back up to two.
 
#5 ·
Best to take this frame in the middle of the day when the foragers (aka thieves) are out - foraging. This way you transfer nice, sweet young nurse bees to your nuc. I'd also move it far from the original location so the thieves don't keep coming back for seconds. Good luck.
 
#6 ·
So I went ahead and swapped three frames...Unfortunately I get back from work after 5 so no luck doing it in the middle of the day, so I just brushed off the bees that didnt look fuzzy and kept the ones that stayed on the brood. I plugged up the entrances to the weak hive and opened up the screened bottom board. Will decide later on what to do for the long term with this weak one...whether to move it away or not. I made up some 1:2 pollen/sugar pattys and will keep it closed another day. I'll be checking in later to see if the queen is laying. Thanks for everyone's help
 
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