[Nichols747]

All,

I have an afterswarm that I hived two weeks ago tomorrow, upon inspection today, no eggs, no pollen going into the hive on the foragers. I realize that it's possible that there was a virgin queen and that she may start laying next week, but I didn't want to risk it. So I grabbed one frame of half-capped brood and half-eggs from my one other hive (May 5th Nuc) and installed it, in the hopes that they will raise a queen.

Will they raise another queen in time (before they all start dying off)?

If there is a developing queen in there, will they simply raise the brood and eggs as their own young? I don't really have the stock to move one frame per week, wish I did!

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Ravenseye]

They'll probably won't die off but they'll dip in population. You say there's no pollen coming in so food is an issue. You may not have pollen available, although there's usually something blooming somewhere. If they have no stores, you need to help them out. If there is a developing queen, giving them the eggs and brood is fine and it'll help boost the hive. I often add a frame of brood from another hive to one that is a package or swarm. It evens out the pending loss of older bees between hiving and the queen getting up to speed.