[Jay T]

Hello,
I think I may have a queen less hive but I’m not really sure, looking for input. At the last inspection I didn’t see any brood or eggs but then again they are not building any queen cells either. And the bees are still building lots of comb on the foundation. I think what happened is the bucket feeder I was using didn’t work very well; they only took a little sugar water compared to the other hives, next to this one. The other hives would take a gallon of sugar water and this one would take about a pint. Question I have what is the best thing to do now? Get a new queen, combined the remaining bees with a nether hive, or put a frame of brood from a nether hive in with the remaining bees. Any suggestions, ideas?

Thanks
Jay T

 

[AR Beekeeper]

Put a frame of eggs and unsealed larvae in the colony. If the colony is queenless they will start queen cells. If they don't start queen cells there is a virgin queen in the colony. If there is a virgin she will be hard to find until she starts to lay. She will probably be as good as one you would buy.

If the colony starts cells then you can decide whether to combine or buy a queen. If you decide to buy a queen, adding the open brood and the queen cells helps prevent laying workers.