[PatBeek]

.

I just exiled this queen because I hadn't seen any eggs/larvae or much capped brood at all lately.

I have already installed a new queen in her place today.

So should I pinch her?

Could she possibly be a newly mated queen and hasn't started laying? She doesn't look that young to me, but I'm not too sure.

Should I risk starting a new split with her?

I'm leaning towards pinching her and putting her in alcohol to later use as a swarm attractant.

 

[RayMarler]

I myself would pinch her. Not every queen is worth saving. Poor performance compared to others in the apiary is a good candidate for an alcohol bath/burial.

 

[PatBeek]

.

Thanks.

Yes, I just pinched her and alcoholized her.

 

[Tenbears]

I have pinched many a queen that had indulged in alcohol

 

[CajunBee]

I have pinched many a queen that had indulged in alcohol

:lpf:

 

[tommyt]

That is a new queen

 

[PatBeek]

That is a new queen

Are you serious? I'm going to be fairly angry if I jumped the gun and didn't give a new queen the chance to start producing.

It had been several weeks and I hadn't seen any signs of laying.

I have drones flying from several of my hives, so that's not an issue.

What are tell tale signs she's new?

 

[Michael Bush]

There are many reasons a queen might stop laying. I'd put her in a nuc until the mother hive is queen right and that queen is laying, then I'd drop her in the jar of alcohol. No need to pinch her. She will die instantly when she hits the alcohol.

 

[PatBeek]

There are many reasons a queen might stop laying. I'd put her in a nuc until the mother hive is queen right and that queen is laying, then I'd drop her in the jar of alcohol. No need to pinch her. She will die instantly when she hits the alcohol.

It's funny, yesterday I was about to put a divider in one of my strong hives and create a small nuc in the back portion of the hive with that exiled queen. The reason I didn't do it was because I figured if she WAS bad, they'd have her pheromones keeping them from building a new queen from scratch - that they would cancel each other out. I realize they are probably smarter than that, and I could recombine them if it failed, but I have to leave town for work for quite awhile very soon, and I can't babysit this experiment. In fact, if I wasn't leaving town soon, I would have allowed the exiled queen to remain in her original hive for a bit longer.

Oh well, it's done now. Hopefully next time this happens I'll be more patient, won't have to leave town, or will be able to detect if the queen is new or not.

 

[PatBeek]

.

But the bottom line is, I need to get to the point where I'm self-sustaining.......where I don't have to panic about a queen.

(I hope I don't step on too many toes here of queen breeders by posting this video):