Hello , been a while fellow beeks. well i got a swarm call the other day and the guy says they have been there for two days so i go shake them in a box and they go in like allways. I let the box set there for a day and go get it at night and bring it home. i wait a day and check and no eggs and no queen so i have a extra one so i put her in and wait three days. I back in the hive again yesterday afternoon and the queen cage had dropped to the bottom with the screen facing down and now i have a laying worker. i looked at one frame and its eggs piled everywhere so i am sure i don't have a queen so i am guessing they will not except the queen that i have installed :'(. should i shake the bees away from the hive and let them come back and try the queen again or what? at a loss. Thanks for any input on my screw up :shock:
7 days, counting the two they were in the tree? I think that is a mighty short time for laying workers to develop. I would rather think a newly mated queen who hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. I would give them about 4 more days before shaking out.
hello iddee , the time in the tree is not really known just going by the guy i got them swarm from. the main reason i think a laying worker is the amount of eggs deposited in the cells. i mean looks like she put them in with a bazooka ,eggs every where and have read on her that was a sign. thanks for your imput i might just be overthinking lol ps have used your trap out techniques and have had very good success! :)
If there are many eggs in the bottom of the cells, it's likely a new queen. If up on the walls of the cells, it's likely laying workers.
Glad the traps are working.
A week is to soon for laying workers. A virgin queen swarm sounds like what you got. Give her some time and she will figure it out.
well checked again this mornin and looks like yall are correct the new queen must have been miss fireing :-D. looks like she has got her stuff together and laying one egg per cell and placed perfect on the bottom :) thanks for the imput :)