[Margaret Sloan]

One of our hives made a new queen about 6 weeks ago. We saw her mated about a month ago. Since then, there has not been any new brood at all. The bees are putting honey everywhere: brood boxes and honey supers.

The bees are very calm, acting totally queenright, but we don't see any sign of a queen, or even a laying worker. We're not sure what's going on? The hive is dwindling, of course, because there is no new brood being produced.

Any idea?

 

[Fuzzy]

The fact that the bees are putting honey everywhere is a dead give away. You have no queen. If you don't get a queen or eggs quickly the hive is doomed. If you can find/capture a swarm, then merge it with this hive using newspaper.

 

[KQ6AR]

I agree, put a frame of eggs in there to see if they build a queen cell. We have plenty of good weather left.

 

[Ethfol]

I had the same problem, saw the queen last week and then this week there is no brood and all honey but the colony was acting queenright... go figure. So I got a new queen and installed her. We'll see how it goes...

For those of you who noticed that the queen was in there last week and then this week no brood, and thought that sounded a little fishy, it was because of a mix-up involving wild comb and queen excluders keeping the queen in the wild comb. Long story...

 

[Michael Bush]

This is one of those cases where a frame of eggs would be the thing to give them.

There are few solutions as universal in their application and their
success than adding a frame of open brood every week for three weeks.
It is a virtual panecea for any queen issues. It gives the bees the
pheromones to suppress laying workers. It gives them more workers
coming in during a period where there is no laying queen. It does not
interfere if there is a virgin queen. It gives them the resources to
rear a queen. It is virtually foolproof and does not require finding a
queen or seeing eggs. If you have any issue with queenrightness, no
brood, worried that there is no queen, this is the simple solution that
reuires no worrying, no waiting, no hoping. You just give them what
they need to resolve the situation. If you have any doubts about the
queenrightness of a hive, give them some open brood and sleep well.
Repeat once a week for two more weeks if you still aren't sure. By then
things will be fine.

 

[peacekeeperapiaries]

I second MB's advice, a frame of eggs/open brood can answer/resolve a lot of questions and problems.

 

[Fuzzy]

Sent you a P.M. concerning how to possibly obtain a swarm in your area.

 

[GB]

I have reciently been told by an very experienced bee keeping family that a new queen will not start laying untill all brood not hers has emerged. Opinions/contradictions welcome.

 

[Bens-Bees]

I have reciently been told by an very experienced bee keeping family that a new queen will not start laying untill all brood not hers has emerged. Opinions/contradictions welcome.

My opinion - timing wise, it would be hard for a new queen to get mated and mature enough to lay eggs sooner than an egg from the previous queen would need to emerge... so yeah I KINDA agree, but I doubt that there's anything intentional about it.

 

[Michael Bush]

Typically though, the timing of raising, hardening, and mating a queen takes long enough that the last of the brood has emerged. Hard to say if that's by design but a break such as this shakes off many a brood disease such as EHB so it does serve a purpose.

 

[GB]

Point being that adding a frame of eggs/brood would delay the new queen laying still further.

 

[Ethfol]

Just remember that it takes almost 2 months for new bee's to hatch if you let them raise their own queenMight delay building up your population for the winter

 

[Watchdog2020]

I have the identical situation and was going to post the same question today. If I (we) move a frame of open brood to the ‘queenless’ hive, I’m guessing the bottom center hive body is the correct place. Or, if I can get my hands on a new queen would you indirect release her like you would in a new package?

 

[Ethfol]

I have the identical situation and was going to post the same question today. If I (we) move a frame of open brood to the ‘queenless’ hive, I’m guessing the bottom center hive body is the correct place. Or, if I can get my hands on a new queen would you indirect release her like you would in a new package?

By "indirect release" you mean with the queen candy plug? If so, that is the way I would go.

 

[Michael Bush]

>Point being that adding a frame of eggs/brood would delay the new queen laying still further.

But it's just not true. It will not delay them. The fact that the brood emerges before the new queen lays is just a matter of timing not instinct.

 

[Watchdog2020]

>Point being that adding a frame of eggs/brood would delay the new queen laying still further.

But it's just not true. It will not delay them. The fact that the brood emerges before the new queen lays is just a matter of timing not instinct.

When I called the area bee shop to get a new queen he suggested I move over a frame of egg / uncapped brood and wait 3 days. Look and see if there are any signs Queen cups. If there is, then requeen. If not - Let them sort it out. Impressed me as he had a queen at the store I could have bought. Helping me out and risking the loss of a 30 dollar sale - That's customer service


So that's what I did last night.

 

[Margaret Sloan]

Update on the missing queen:

We must have not been paying attention the day we went into that hive. We looked in there last week and it was bursting with capped brood, all the way out to the edges of all the frames! She's got a second box now, and hopefully is filling it.

Unfortuntately, that hive is also full of mites. Shouldn't that period of broodlessness have helped with the mite situation?

 

[Ethfol]

That must be a big relief for you!! And look at all the info you learned!! For free! You sure you didn't just miss the little egg's at the very bottom of the cell? If it was a gray day then that would be a very easy thing to do...

 

[Margaret Sloan]

I thought we went through the hive pretty carefully, but clearly we missed seeing the eggs. But there would have been some larvae too (there were bees emerging), and we are amazed that we missed seeing that!

And yes, we did learn a lot. Like: Be Patient!

 

[Ethfol]

Patience... the virtue we all wish we had! As I said it sure isn't hard to do, I got freaked out once because I thought I had AFB but when a much more experienced beekeeper came over he told me I did not. What a relief that was, even if I did feel a little bit silly.