[imthedude]

Howdy folks.

I have a colony that has had laying worker(s) problems for a bit now. Two weeks ago, I started the frame of brood for three weeks routine in an attempt to salvage the colony before I shake them out then combine with another colony. Yesterday morning I opened up the hive to add another frame of brood, and when looking at the frames where I had added brood the previous 2 times, I saw some day-old eggs that look to be from a queen (perfect placement in the cell and only 1 egg per cell). This is the first time I've seen eggs that look like they came from a queen in this hive. Should I find her and mash her (thinking she's poorly mated since I'm just now seeing eggs) or let her get on with her business?

TIA

 

[ruthiesbees]

I would give her some time and wait to see how the laying pattern is going. Sounds to me like you have a laying queen at this point. If the bees don't like her, they will sense that and supersede her.

 

[tsmullins]

I like Ruthie's advice. I would give her some time.

Typically it takes about 30 days or so from egg to laying queen. The eggs you saw yesterday are almost certainly not from a queen they hatched from the eggs you put in two weeks ago.

 

[Saltybee]

Odds of recovering LWs just keep going downhill with time. You have a laying queen, you have already past the hard part, see what happens.
Could be a wandering queen or one they snuck past you earlier.

 

[WBVC]

Question from a new beek:

If you have been have been having laying worker issues for some time and have added in new brood/eggs over the past weeks only where did the newly appeared laying Queen come from?
Is one of your brood donor hives now Queenless?

 

[Saltybee]

WBVC, true enough that can happen. Original queen or superceder virgin riding the transfer. Or superceder virgin returning to wrong hive.
Only the bees know for sure.

 

[Andrew Dewey]

I vote for giving her some time. Drones are plentiful in most of the country right now, so I tend to doubt the poor mating scenario.

 

[shinbone]

Your post wasn't clear, but I'd put that 3rd frame of eggs in the hive in the mean time.