I had a swarm on one of my hives last week, and have noticed significant egg/brood reduction. I have heard egg production drops off after a swarm but am wondering if I should be concerned. This hive 2 weeks ago had 4 FULL frames of capped brood. I am wondering if it just takes some time to get things going again? There are no emergency, supercedure or swarm cells to be seen. Any opinions?
>I have heard egg production drops off after a swarm
Actually it drops off BEFORE the swarm and stops altogether after for at least two weeks.
Would you recommend re-queening this hive or just letting things go untouched for a bit.
Quote from: GTX188 on June 07, 2009, 01:39:11 PM
Would you recommend re-queening this hive or just letting things go untouched for a bit.
Your hive should have done a good job rearing a good swarm queen to replace the one that left with the swarm. I would let nature take its course. By the time you get a new queen and requeen and that one gets accepted and starts laying, the one you have now would probably already be to that point as well.
Trying to requeen will most likely result in a dead queen. The virgin in there will just kill her.
Prior to swarming the queen will cease laying eggs. After a swarm it is often hard to tell that a hive has swarmed because the population doesn't seem deminished. The brood hatched out replacing the population that left with the swarm so the real clue that a swarm happened is the sudden brood dearth. It will correct itself once the new queen has mated and starts laying.
The sudden brood dearth, when a leaving swarm was unobserved, is often mistaken as a queenless hive.