[Splatt]

The saga of the dying hive continues.

Last Saturday I gave the hive a good going over. No eggs or queen. So I shook the hive out and re-queened. She's dead. They didn't even let her out of her cage. Scratch 30-odd bucks and a queen. Maybe she wasn't viable.

I'd like to do a split to get another hive going before the year gets much older. I figure this Saturday I'll condense the hive down to one box and maybe use the other one for a split. I have a couple of questions for you more experienced beeks:

• Should I create a new hive or keep putting brood frames from my good hive into the dying hive?
• If I do keep on putting brood frames into the dying hive, should the nurse bees go with it? Or should I brush the frame off, first?

 

[Wolfer]

It seems to me that some hives will make up their mind to die and I can't prove them wrong. In years past I would keep babying them along until they finally got robbed or SHB took them.
Not any more. When I see them declining I shake them out or combine them and start another hive in their equip. I put their box in a different spot to keep them from flying back to it.

If combining I'll add them to my weakest hive and pull frames from my strongest hives. Two frames of brood from 4 different hives will raise a good queen and take off hard once she starts laying.

If I even suspected laying workers I'd shake them out, I wouldent combine.

 

[Splatt]

It seems to me that some hives will make up their mind to die and I can't prove them wrong.

That's the impression I'm getting.

 

[Ravenseye]

I have a colony that won't get going too. I just added fresh brood frames again and if it doesn't work, it'll get combined with another coloy. If you do add brood, leave the nurse bees on. They need to cover the brood and they'll boost the colony a bit.