Hi all. I had a set back with a split I did a few weeks ago due to beekeeper error.. I had a very strong 4 medium box hive that I split evenly. I introduced a new queen the the half that was queenless 24 hours after splitting. I did not face the hives towards one another to minimize worker drift back to the original hive because there was a solid amount of capped brood and stores in the new hive I situated a few feet from the original location. I reasoned that the capped brood would hatch out over the next week and they would replace the foragers in a fairly short time frame. The new hove was also the half with the original queen. My undoing was that within a few days of the split we had a final winter front blow through and temps went into the low thirties for a few nights. Once the workers drifted back to the original hive, apparently there were too few bees to cover the brood and the cold temps killed many of the bees including the queen.
The other half of the split, in the original location, with the queen I introduced was fine and strong, as was a package I hived a few days after making the split.
When I inspected the hive this weekend (the first opportunity I've had to return since 4/17) I found a small cluster of surviving bees (softball size), several frames of chilled/dead brood, and a lot of dead bees. There were no larvae or eggs in there whatsoever. I was not able to locate the queen, and based on the lack of young brood, I assume she perished.
I added one frame of capped brood and one frame of eggs and larvae from one of my other hives. I will wait to see if they try and make a queen. I won't get back out there until next Sunday. Here are my questions:
1. Will the bees clear out the frames with the chilled capped brood or do I need to get rid of that comb?
2. Next Sunday when I go out, if I don't find a queen cell on the frame of eggs and larvae, I plan to do a paper combine back to one of my other hives, probably the package. Thoughts?
As always, thanks in advance.
The other half of the split, in the original location, with the queen I introduced was fine and strong, as was a package I hived a few days after making the split.
When I inspected the hive this weekend (the first opportunity I've had to return since 4/17) I found a small cluster of surviving bees (softball size), several frames of chilled/dead brood, and a lot of dead bees. There were no larvae or eggs in there whatsoever. I was not able to locate the queen, and based on the lack of young brood, I assume she perished.
I added one frame of capped brood and one frame of eggs and larvae from one of my other hives. I will wait to see if they try and make a queen. I won't get back out there until next Sunday. Here are my questions:
1. Will the bees clear out the frames with the chilled capped brood or do I need to get rid of that comb?
2. Next Sunday when I go out, if I don't find a queen cell on the frame of eggs and larvae, I plan to do a paper combine back to one of my other hives, probably the package. Thoughts?
As always, thanks in advance.