Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner
1 - 2 of 7 Posts

· Vendor
Local feral survivors in eight frame medium boxes.
Joined
·
53,472 Posts
Assuming that it is laying workers, and assuming you think it's worth the work, a frame of open brood and eggs every week for three weeks will get them raising a queen. A queen cell from another hive may straighten things out more quickly.

If you can find a queen, then it's not laying workers. If some of that brood is capped as worker brood, it's not laying workers. If it's spotty and all of it has domed caps on it, it's probably laying workers. If it's spotty, all of it has domed caps on it and every cell has dozens of eggs in them, then it is definitely laying workers.

http://bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm
http://bushfarms.com/beespanacea.htm
 

· Vendor
Local feral survivors in eight frame medium boxes.
Joined
·
53,472 Posts
> I did see several worker bees with pollen on their legs which I understand usually means there is queen in the hive.

No. It does not mean that.

>There is still very little brood but it does not look like drone brood.

It's not so much the amount as the configuration. The number of bees there are to cover the brood and the amount of food available determine the amount. It should be all together and not scattered and the cappings should be pretty much flat (slightly convex) and not domed like kix cereal.

>I also notice that all of the bees are staying on the four frames on one side of the box.

That is the side that gets the most sun.
 
1 - 2 of 7 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top