three queens in a hive

999 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Vance G, Jun 18, 2014

MMenzies

Discussion Starter · Jun 18, 2014

I have been using a 10 frame single deep started in March from a package to split to nucs or use frames of brood from this to bolster other hives. It has always had an enormous amount of brood in it and have always thought wow this is a really nice productive queen.

I went in to today to rob a couple of frames of brood for a weaker hive and a nuc. The second frame I pull out and inspect there is an unmarked queen so I think odd there was a marked queen in there last week, and go ahead an mark her. Next frame I pull out there is another unmarked queen so I mark her too. Now I am interested so continue inspecting and sure enough there is my original marked queen

How common is it to have multiple queens living in harmony in a single deep hive. I have never seen a queen cell in this hive so I am a little confused as to how these other two queens got there in the first place. No wonder there was so much brood in there.

Mark

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Robbin

· #2 · Jun 18, 2014

MMenzies said:
I have been using a 10 frame single deep started in March from a package to split to nucs or use frames of brood from this to bolster other hives. It has always had an enormous amount of brood in it and have always thought wow this is a really nice productive queen.

I went in to today to rob a couple of frames of brood for a weaker hive and a nuc. The second frame I pull out and inspect there is an unmarked queen so I think odd there was a marked queen in there last week, and go ahead an mark her. Next frame I pull out there is another unmarked queen so I mark her too. Now I am interested so continue inspecting and sure enough there is my original marked queen

How common is it to have multiple queens living in harmony in a single deep hive. I have never seen a queen cell in this hive so I am a little confused as to how these other two queens got there in the first place. No wonder there was so much brood in there.

Mark

I think it's more common than people think, because you stop looking for queens when you find the first one. I've never had 3 queens that I know of. I've had double queens 3 times that I know of and I've only got a dozen hives. My case, like yours, found and pulled the marked queen, the went on to rob a couple of frames and found a second. Then last month I pulled my favorite queen to get queen cells, put her in a nuc, went back ten days later to collect the cells.... No cells! Sure enough, after a frame by frame inspection, found a second, laying queen.

Cool stuff! Of course you have to wonder how great the queen is now. Like me, my favorite queen, was really 2 queens!

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Vance G

· #3 · Jun 18, 2014

I just found two non remarkable young queens ignoring each other and laying within three inches of each other. It was my first time and I have a witness. I have read for years that 10-20% have more than one queen.

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