[Jim Ray]

Ok. I've got three queens ordered to arrive this week, but had trouble finding the old queens. Is there a method to requeen that you don't have to find the old queen? I have four days to get ready for the new queens, but tomorrow (off work) is the best chance.

my hives get stirred up and their are neighbors near by....

I ordered the Koehnen cordovan italians

Jim

 

[devdog108]

Do you have another box or boxes handy? You could remove frame by frame and look and place into the box to the side. I have found mine many times like that......you just have to watch for her.

 

[Brent Bean]

If you have a Snelgrove board or a double screen board http://www.betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=302
Move all uncapped brood and frames of honey and pollen.into one super. Shake all the bees off into the lower box. Place a queen excluder between the supers. Wait a few hours a majority of nurse bees will move into the upper super to tend the brood. Remove the queen excluder and replace it with the Snelgrove board. Perform this a day before you introduce the new queen, this isn’t enough time for them to get real serious about raising a new queen. The old queen will continue operating in the lower box but will be separate form the new queen. The colony will be acquainted with both queens because of the screen board.

When the new queen has been properly introduced and is laying, find the old queen and remove her form the hive and rejoin the supers. The bees will accept the new queen, conditions are probably similar to normal supersedure.

A good advantage is there is no delay in brood rearing when queen introduction don’t go as planned.

 

[brac]

I would say you could make up nucs till they get accepted, the do a newspaper combine with your new queen on top, but with 3 to do thats a bit of work. However if you really can't find a queen....

 

[NasalSponge]

In both of the hive I went thru today she was in the bottom box last or next to last frame!! Naughty queens!! If you go slow and use very little smoke you should be able to find them.

 

[honeyshack]

When you are looking for the queen on a frame, do not be diligent and look at every square centimeter. Hold the frame away abit and look at it as a whole. The big picture..."one of these things is not like the other..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etuPF1yJRzg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm-zWDaoCtI&feature=related

I have found the best way to find the queen is to take a step back and look at the frame as a whole. She is bigger, slower and has a bit of space around her, unless the box is crowded

 

[Jim Ray]

That's good stuff, guys!

 

[Jim Ray]

I do not have a Snelgrove board or a double screen board, but that sounds like a good investment!

I do have extra boxes and queen excluders.

Jim

 

[Grid]

What about putting a queen excluder on an empty super of comb, put your supers of bees on top one at a time, and smoke the bees down through the excluder. The queen will be left on top.

Just a thought.

 

[Jim Ray]

Keep 'em coming....

 

[Countryboy]

Requeening using cells is probably the easiest way to requeen without having to find the queen. The virgin will do it for you.

 

[Brent Bean]

To expand on Grid’s idea. Drive the bees down using a fume board and honey robber place a queen excluder between supers wait a few hours then look in the bottom box. The queen will be in the bottom box and by separating the supers you will eliminate a good portion of the hive population and make finding the queen easier.

Or separate the supers then stand back and watch where the flying bees seem the most active, chances that will be the box where mom is at.

 

[Jim Ray]

Found and removed two of the three queens today! One of the hives is sure enough hot!