I've got a three good queens arriving this week, but all my hives are currently queenright...though a number of them are certainly underperforming.
What's your advice? Should I simply pinch the queens of the underperforming colonies and introduce the new queens? Or would you make nucs and try overwintering those with the new queens? Actually, I sort of consider these weak colonies "nucs" because, after a season of recovering from laying workers, etc, they're still living in only one medium box. Would you advise combining a couple of these underperforming colonies and requeen the newly combined hive?
Is it too late in the season to make a couple of nucs from my strong colonies (I'm in southern Ohio)?
I've never requeened a queenright colony, and I sort of hate the idea of it, but some of these hives are just too poopy to go on this way. I can't keep propping 'em up.
-Liz
My advice is probably worth what it cost you, but I'd pinch and replace the underperforming queens. There's time for a couple brood cycles before winter, so you'll have a young vigorous queen and new bees heading into winter.
I'm planning on doing the same with some dink colonies that I have.
I've got some underperforming queens at this point but I'm starting to think it's due to drifting. Their brood patterns look good and dense but the population never seems to explode like it appears it's always on the verge of. Out of the 15 hives in a gradual "S" if you saw them from above, these 3 are almost in the exact middle with the two at both ends being insanely strong and productive. Nonetheless, I'll see how they overwinter as nucs 10 frame as I split the remaining portions into 5 and 10 frame nucs with Fall queens. Winter will sort out the survivors. Those strong nucs that make it will be promoted those that don't or that are weak will be used to boost the strong ones to production in time for Spring 2012
Quote from: TwoHoneys on August 11, 2011, 07:52:55 AM
Would you advise combining a couple of these underperforming colonies and requeen the newly combined hive?
yes
Quote
Is it too late in the season to make a couple of nucs from my strong colonies (I'm in southern Ohio)?
yes
I think FRAMEshifts advice has the best chance of success, but it is certainly possible to make splits now and successfully winter them.
Last year (here in Michigan) I made 4 splits on August 11th and inserted mated queens. It took about a week before those queens started laying, so that put me at August 18th. These were small 1 and 2 frame deep splits but they survived winter. Granted I did baby them. They about doubled in size before winter set in.
This year I made 4 nucs up on August 6th.
There is pollen and some nectar for forage up here until mid October. That's 65 days from now.