[cconnell]

I have been working on grafting queens using a Cloake Board set up. Today was day 10 for my latest group. I Went to take them out and lots of burr comb everywhere on the grafting frame. Anyway, I'm gently pairing the wax away from one of the cells and then I notice the nice round hole in the tip of the cell and no queen inside. She must have emerged either earlier today or maybe yesterday. The other cells were not damages or attacked, as far as I can tell, I'm guessing because of the burr comb.

So, now I am assuming there is a virgin queen in the top portion of the hive. I looked for her, but didn't see her.

Here's my set-up from bottom to top: bottom deep with the laying queen; QE and Cloake frame; medium with lots of honey; deep used as the starter/finisher with about 4 frames of capped brood; medium super on top, with some honey. The only entrance open to the hive is just above the queen excluder.

I did a check on the bottom deep--lots of eggs and larvae, no queen cells. No queen cells above either.

What kinds of problems do I have now, if any? What should I do if anything, if anything?

I was thinking about putting the top deep on its own bottom board and seeing if the queen mates and lays; or leave it be?

When looking for the virgin I was concentrating on areas with brood or open comb, hoping the virgin would be like a mated queen and not cross a honey barrier sideways or up/down. Is this a good procedure?

I should add that I add that I put another QE in place, between the middle medium super and the bottom of the deep box. Now it's more like a Demaree set up. But still, I'd appreciate some experience or advice. Thanks.

 

[ffrtsaxk]

If you want the virgin out, shake them through a queen excluder box to find the virgin. If you want her to mate and start laying, just leave a top entrance for her on the opposite side as the other entrance. She may or may not be allowed to survive to mate or may mate and be killed shortly thereafter or mate and start laying just fine. I've had mixed results trying to raise queens and let them mate like that. So far I have never had the virgin manage to kill the queen in the lower chamber. But, I've read about the virgin returning from the mating flight and going in the wrong entrance and killing the queen but it is rare when the entrances are on opposite sides.

 

[ffrtsaxk]

Also, the virgins don't care about honey barriers. They will go anywhere and everywhere they can.

 

[cconnell]

All right. Thanks for the input. I had concerns about killing the established queen and so on. An about swarming--this hive is so full. But there are no QE's present so I can I can relax for a few days. ALso I guess I had better make sure the queen isn't trapped in the super betwen QEs.