you might want to explain the style of split and the orientation of how they are currently stored.
Failed split/Captured Swarm
So this is probably a basic question with a twist.
I made a split back on 4/27 from a strong colony. All looked good until the split swarmed last week. Thankfully I was home, witnessed the swarm, caught it and boxed it. The caught swarm seems to have taken and has a laying queen present, but it is a small swarm. The split is still full of bees, but no eggs/larvae/brood. The split does have a couple of queen cells left intact which may emerge, but there is no brood to repopulate the split. 3 questions are...
1. Should I combine the two colonies in hopes of boosting the bee count for the new queen?
2. If I do combine, I should destroy all remaining queen cups correct?
3. Does it matter which hive is on top? The split is stronger number wise, but the swarm has an established layer.
Thanks in advance for the responses!
Jerry
I made a split back on 4/27 from a strong colony. All looked good until the split swarmed last week. Thankfully I was home, witnessed the swarm, caught it and boxed it. The caught swarm seems to have taken and has a laying queen present, but it is a small swarm. The split is still full of bees, but no eggs/larvae/brood. The split does have a couple of queen cells left intact which may emerge, but there is no brood to repopulate the split. 3 questions are...
1. Should I combine the two colonies in hopes of boosting the bee count for the new queen?
2. If I do combine, I should destroy all remaining queen cups correct?
3. Does it matter which hive is on top? The split is stronger number wise, but the swarm has an established layer.
Thanks in advance for the responses!
Jerry
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
It was a simple walkaway split, housed in an 8 frame deep.
Hi Jerry,So this is probably a basic question with a twist.
I made a split back on 4/27 from a strong colony. All looked good until the split swarmed last week. Thankfully I was home, witnessed the swarm, caught it and boxed it. The caught swarm seems to have taken and has a laying queen present, but it is a small swarm. The split is still full of bees, but no eggs/larvae/brood. The split does have a couple of queen cells left intact which may emerge, but there is no brood to repopulate the split. 3 questions are...
1. Should I combine the two colonies in hopes of boosting the bee count for the new queen?
2. If I do combine, I should destroy all remaining queen cups correct?
3. Does it matter which hive is on top? The split is stronger number wise, but the swarm has an established layer.
Thanks in advance for the responses!
Jerry
1. No
2. N/A
3. N/A
If anything, give the newly caught swarm a frame of the bees from one of the other colonies. Do not give them the frame with the queen cells on it! In another three weeks, the original split will have a new laying queen and all will be OK. Once the queen is laying, work on managing the size of the hive. I think your split quickly outgrew the hive (nuc?) you had them in.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
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