[snackman508]

got a swarm and it dosnt seem to have a queen (4 weeks no brood). first time working with bees so i need a recommendation where to get her, right now all i have is google. Im in PA so will need a hardy one for winters. what are good comps to look at who should i stay away from.

 

[mark williams]

Noticed Brushy mountain. New Columbia Pa,Has them 1-800-233-7929.
Also Mann Lake. Wilkes-Barre Pa,1-800-880-7694.
I'd check & see if there is a bee club around you.They may be able to help also.Mark,,,,

 

[Blessed Farms]

Honey Run Apiaries (Ohio) or Ebert Queens (Iowa). NWC and regular Carniolans. I've had luck with both types and both places are very helpful. They should winter well in your area.

 

[Shelbee]

Try Bjorn Apiaries in Dillsburg PA. They are pretty close to you.

 

[Tim B]

If your swarm has gone four weeks w/o a queen then the swarm is hopeless anyway. They won't accept a queen. You would also already be seeing drone layers. If the hive has gone four weeks w/o brood but has no dronelayers then you might have a queen that isn't laying. In that case, you will have to find and remove the queen before installing a new one. If you are new to beekeeping then you need to take a good look at images of queens and then go frame by frame through the hive looking for a match and then decide from there.

 

[beepro]

Not sure if it was a virgin or the mated queen that swarmed.
You can definitely test them with a mated queen no matter how
long they are queen less. You can also put a frame of egg/larvae
to see if they will build some queen cells for you. Try Cl to buy
a frame of egg/larvae locally. I had laying workers at the same time a
newly laying mated queen in the same hive before. Soon the mated queen
prevailed. I once bought a frame of bees from CL when I started.
They all accepted a new queen readily with the proper introduction of her.
I'm happy to help if you needed it. I have 4 mentors and many beekeepers here if I do not
know the answer. There is also the PM you can use too.


Queen with big body and darker thorax:

 

[snackman508]

ok so after the last posts i think ill wait it out and hope its a virgin. plus every where i called dosent have any queens left. im going to see if i can get a hold of some brood. if not i dont have to much invested in this swarm any way.

 

[jwcarlson]

ok so after the last posts i think ill wait it out and hope its a virgin. plus every where i called dosent have any queens left. im going to see if i can get a hold of some brood. if not i dont have to much invested in this swarm any way.

After four weeks a virgin should be laying. Have they drawn any comb?

 

[Satch]

Give Koehnen bees a call. they can get you set up with a queen very quickly.

 

[KevinR]

I believe that Johnny Thompson still had queens for this month/June... He's a member here under Broke_t, I think.

I'd look locally at your bee club though... Someone should be able to spare a frame of eggs/brood for you.

 

[Southwings]

Tate Apiaries has queens available now. www.tatesapiaries.com. They are really nice folks.

 

[dynemd]

Per Tate Apiaries website: "Sorry, but we are no longer taking orders for NC raised queens, nucs, or packages. Please check back later in the year."

 

[Southwings]

I just purchased one from them. It's arriving tomorrow. I saw that on their site as well. But I decided to call them and that's how I got my queen.