[bison]

I have two hives that are both queenless. One is very strong and is in the midst of re-queening itself (I found empty and torn apart queen cells and believe the new queen should be laying within a week or so), the other is quite weak and is impossibly queenless. I have two new queens coming as I want to use one for the second hive and the other to make a nuc. Normally I'd take a couple of frames of brood to make a split, but in this case I have none. Can I just take a couple frames with lots of bees on it from the strong hive and put them into a nuc, then add the queen a couple days later? If so, should I screen them in to the nuc so they don't fly out and return to the other hive and/or move the nuc to a different location?

thx

 

[Mr.Beeman]

"Can I just take a couple frames with lots of bees on it from the strong hive and put them into a nuc, then add the queen a couple days later?

Yes, install her as you would a package queen.


If so, should I screen them in to the nuc so they don't fly out and return to the other hive and/or move the nuc to a different location?"

The bees on the frames will most likey be nurse bees which have never been out of the hive... no drift. Reduce the entrance to a two bee width. You may have to ensure they have honey and pollen until they get going.