[cviuc1972]

I used the Palmer method of separating the workers from their queen yesterday afternoon. It's a three deep hive, I had put queen excluders between the boxes 5 days ago. I found brood of varying ages in all the boxes, but no eggs that I could say were freshly laid, which made it difficult to say where she was with certainty. Anyhow, shook them off into the box and they crowded onto the sides of the box instead of going back down into the hive through the excluder. The duct tape that was supposed to stop the bees from running over the sides of the box worked so that they weren't crawling out the top. I would brush them down off the sides to the bottom, but still they ran up the sides and just hung there, a few grudgingly going through the excluder.
It was getting towards 7pm, so I quit and put the shaker box on top of the hive, hoping they would migrate down on their own overnight. I work today until 4pm, so I guess I'll see where they are.

Is this the way it usually goes? I thought about using a fume board to expedite their migration, but maybe it's better if they go at their own speed?

 

[John_M]

yes it is. If you listen to Palmer he says the bees are up the sides and the queen is running around on top of the excluder trying to get back down.

 

[AR Beekeeper]

If you put the excluders in 5 day before, any box with eggs would be the box with the queen. Did you have any frames w/brood in the bottom box you were driving them into?

 

[Lburou]

A bit of smoke moves them down at my house...

 

[psm1212]

A bit of smoke moves them down at my house...

I generally have to use more than "a bit." I am virtually smoke bombing them to get them to go through the excluder. I have the same issue as you describe with bees adhering to the sides of the box needing to be "encouraged" to go to through the excluder.

 

[cviuc1972]

Interestingly enough, through the top two boxes I found fairly young, tiny larva that looked like they just hatched. I thought I was hot on her trail, but she eluded me. Come to think of it, it did seem like the second box had the youngest larva, but no fresh eggs that I could see. She is a sneaky little she-devil...

I did use quite a bit of smoke, but I stopped when it seemed to have had no effect on them at all, other than to make them all fan harder.

Has something like Bee-quick worked for anyone to drive the bees down into the hive? Or do they stay close to the queen in spite of being fumed, like nurse bees and brood comb?

 

[John_M]

You never said why you were doing this? Pretty extreme if the goal is just to be sure there's a queen.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Is this the way it usually goes?

Did nectar shake out onto the bees?

 

[cviuc1972]

My goal was to requeen since their queen is on her second year. Her laying pattern was scattered, so I figured I'd get a new one put in before it gets cold. Anyhow, the hive is packed wall to wall with bees and I was having a difficult time locating her. Which is why the shake box seemed like a good idea.

I went out this afternoon and they were all hanging from the inner cover of the shake box. I dropped the lid and they fell down to the bottom, then I put a fume board with bee-quick and it drove nearly everyone down. Except for the drones and her. So it seemed to work like it was supposed to.

Wait a day and see if they like the new girl.