[Redrooster19]

I am in central Mississippi and have a few hives, all seem to be doing well except for one. I tried to re-queen it twice and they rejected the new queen. There is a lot of nectar in the brood box and a lot of bees, but I know they will dwindle away without some new brood. The golden rod hasn't really started blooming here too much yet. I was thinking of adding a frame of capped brood as well as some larvae, and introduce a new queen to get it going again. From all I have read, the fall honey flow should be enough to help get this hive back in shape. Does this sound like a good move?

 

[Spur9]

I am in central Mississippi and have a few hives, all seem to be doing well except for one. I tried to re-queen it twice and they rejected the new queen. There is a lot of nectar in the brood box and a lot of bees, but I know they will dwindle away without some new brood. The golden rod hasn't really started blooming here too much yet. I was thinking of adding a frame of capped brood as well as some larvae, and introduce a new queen to get it going again. From all I have read, the fall honey flow should be enough to help get this hive back in shape. Does this sound like a good move?

If they have rejected twice you supplying them a queen, it would suggest that the bees think they already have a queen. Either there is a queen in the box or laying workers. Instead of capped brood and larvae, I would give them a frame of eggs/larvae <3 days old. If they build queen cells on that frame, then they are queenless (inspect frame after 3-4 days).

If they do not, you have the option of giving them another frame (i.e. laying workers possible) or try to introduce a queen. A thorough inspection needs to be done after examining the frame to determine if there is a queen (virgin or not) in the hive.

I personally would not buy another queen until I performed the egg/young larvae frame test.