[Deer Slayer]

I definitely have a laying working in the hive that has been my problem hive since I started it this year. I am sure my inexperience contributed to this problem somehow. I was going to give up on this hive but after reading about laying workers in beekeeping for dummies (again) I decided to try and save them one more time.
1. order a new queen.
2. on the day the queen arrives I will move the entire hive at least 100 yards from its current location.
3. Remove every frame one by one and shake ALL the bees off.
4. Place the beeless frames in spare deeps with covers on them to keep all bees out.
5. Once I have two deeps full of frames with no bees I will move everything back to the original location.
6. Place all the frames back into the original boxes and set the hive back up just as it was except there will be no bees in it. The book said you may actually see bees waiting for you there to set their home back up.
7. Introduce the new queen in the traditional manner.

Book claims this has a 100% success rate if you make sure all bees are removed from the frames. The old bees can find their way back to the hive but the young bees are lost. I guess a laying worker would be a young bee.

Any thoughts on this? Has anyone tried it with success or not?

 

[dcross]

It isn't guaranteed, laying workers can sometimes fly. If you don't have any other hives it's probably your best bet though.

 

[honeydreams]

That is the only way to do it it works good just one fly in ointment is if the laying worker ever left the hive. but thats about a 99.99% not going to happen. but there is that chance. Good luck I been there with the laying worker and thats how I did it.

 

[Ethfol]

What do you mean by the beginning of this year? That is a very long time for a worker to last (o:

 

[AR Beekeeper]

Laying workers can fly as well as any other worker bee. If you try that method I would also remove any brood, open and sealed, that has been layed by the workers.

Usually trying to save a laying worker colony is not worth the effort unless it is still strong enough in adult bees to make it worth while.

 

[Deer Slayer]

What do you mean by the beginning of this year? (o:

The laying worker is only recently a problem but this hive started with a very lazy queen. I tryed to requeen but was never able to find the old one. I was just pointing out that this hive has been a problem since I started it but the problems were not laying workers. I have been doing inspections on the hive every two weeks or so and this is the first time I have seen the multiple eggs in a cell and eggs in the pollen.

 

[Deer Slayer]

If you try that method I would also remove any brood, open and sealed, that has been layed by the workers.

It is my understanding that the laying worker usually is a young nurse bee that became a layer. It can fly but has never left the hive so it would not be able to correctly orient itself and find the hive from more than 100 yards.

Why would you remove all the brood? Some of the brood could still be from the old queen.

Sorry for asking so many question. I am trying to learn.
Thanks

 

[Deer Slayer]

Usually trying to save a laying worker colony is not worth the effort unless it is still strong enough in adult bees to make it worth while.

This may be the case. I know this hives numbers are much lower than the strong hive I have next to it but I do not know if it is strong enough to save. I guess for $27 I can try and it would be a learning experience even if it fails. I could also supplement some brood frames from the good hive into this one after I do this.

 

[beekeeper1756]

If you have other hives, I agree with you, you could put in frames of capped brood and nursery bees into the weak hive to support their numbers. Just make sure if you transfer frames of eggs/capped brood with the nursery bees on the frames, make sure, that you leave the queen back in the box.

 

[Rick 1456]

I had a laying worker hive that did nothing more than introduce a queen in the traditional manner.( Against everything I read and was advised, I did this to "humor" my bee buddy)I did not poke a hole in the candy to make the release time longer. I did not open the hive for a month.(This was an accident,,,he was supposed to check at two weeks and failed to inform me he had injured his knee) I had a good 4 -5 frames capped brood. I was shocked!!!! If you dump the bees, I think it will increase your odds and more so with some open brood. When she starts laying,,,you should see a dramatic increase in pollen coming in. I did. I would resist the temptation to open the hive too soon. It's either going to work or not. If not,,,,plan B will work too.
Good luck with what ever you decide.

rick SoMd

 

[blueskybeesupply]

If you are going to try, definitely put a frame of capped brood on either side of the queen cage. Brood pheromones suppress ovary development in workers and the newly hatched bees will help with queen acceptance.

 

[Deer Slayer]

I think I will try and dump them if I can find a place that does not freak the neighbors out to much. I try to keep it quite about the bees and everyone will see me dumping them. Maybe I can bribe a neighbor into letting me use their back yard.

 

[devdog108]

I had the same thing slayer. at the same time I basically "requeened them" I removed some of the old frames with drone brood and replaced the frames with brood from another hive. At this point, i shook them and by the time i started replacing boxes the pheremones are so messed from the brood and the queen that by the time they settle down in a day or two, the queen will likely be accepted This is exactly what i dubbed "pheremone reboot" and it worked like a charm.

 

[mothergoosemagic]

I've got the same situation and wondered if there is an optimal *time of day* to do the dump.

Also, instead just requeening, can I combine the remaining workers instead? I've got a pretty little Russian queen in a nuc right next to my LW hive.

 

[devdog108]

If it were me, I'd do the dump middle of the day, then newspaper combine with the russian. I would cage the russian queen though first.....i caged mine and I think thats what saved her.

 

[Deer Slayer]

If I should find that dumping is not an option due to my location how do I save the comb for use next spring? Here is what I think. Scratch all the capping off and set it outside near the hive so the birds can have the brood and the bees can have the honey. After they have cleaned it up I would freeze it for a day or two to kill any wax moth larva that may be in it and then store it using para-moth crystals for use next spring.

Is this the correct way to handle it?

Thanks

 

[Chick]

When you clear the bees off the frames, and move the frames to another box, even by keeping it covered, you will have a hard time keeping ALL the bees out. Everytime to lift the cover, to put a clean frame in it, the bees will be getting in it.

 

[Michael Bush]

You can do what you like of course, but shaking out is, in my experience, a lot of work for no reward. What they need to change their attitude is open brood...
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm

 

[mothergoosemagic]

I'm thinking of trying Michael Bush's Less Successful Method #2, but instead of freezing the drone brood, what about putting these frames in a nuc and letting it peter out as a drone hive? My LW only has 3 frames with brood anyway. I can easily put it in my front yard under the guise of "birdhouse."

UPDATE: Just made the switch, and noticed some very round, ball-shaped cells on the usual supercedure location on one of the frames. Looked empty, but the workers were reaching down inside.

 

[Troy]

Mr. Bush has some great advice on his site. I recommend you follow that advice.

As for myself, I also find that it is not worth the trouble. If a lot of bees left, do a combine with a healthy hive. If not dump them out and start fresh.

A new split from the other hive with a new queen is a much better recipe for success than messing with the laying workers.