Howdy folks.
Came across something weird in one hive. The hive is definitely queenright because I saw her walking around in there. But I also saw some cells that had numerous eggs in them similar to another hive of mine that had a laying worker earlier this season. Can a hive be queenright and have a laying worker, or is this queen going a little wonky on me? She is an emergency queen that was raised last summer and laid great for the rest of the summer and this spring, and now I find this. Could she have been poorly mated from the start and just now be turning into a dud? It seems strange that she would do good up until now and then go south.
What's the best thing to do in a situation like this? If there is indeed a laying worker in there, should I cage the queen, shake out the colony like a normal laying worker colony, then reintroduce the queen or go another route?
TIA
Came across something weird in one hive. The hive is definitely queenright because I saw her walking around in there. But I also saw some cells that had numerous eggs in them similar to another hive of mine that had a laying worker earlier this season. Can a hive be queenright and have a laying worker, or is this queen going a little wonky on me? She is an emergency queen that was raised last summer and laid great for the rest of the summer and this spring, and now I find this. Could she have been poorly mated from the start and just now be turning into a dud? It seems strange that she would do good up until now and then go south.
What's the best thing to do in a situation like this? If there is indeed a laying worker in there, should I cage the queen, shake out the colony like a normal laying worker colony, then reintroduce the queen or go another route?
TIA