I'm pretty sure I'll lose one of my five hives this winter. One I'm pretty sure went queenless in Oct. They were all flying yesterday (48 deg.) but that one. They probably still have a super of honey or more. I would like to give that to the others. When would be the best time to do that and how? Pick out the one with the least or what? Not a good idea to disturb them in the winter probably do more harm than good?
Queenless hive goes over winter as well as with queen. When weather is proper, it is usefull to join to some weak colony. When it is beginning of winter, it is better to wait for spring or end of winter.
I think Finsky is right about messing with them this time of year. On the other hand the queenless ones never seem to make it to spring for me. But you may be surprised. Most hives quit laying brood in October so you may have a queen in there and you just didn't see her.
This time it is difficult to see, is it queenless. At spring you se after cleansing flight , if it have unmated drone-layer or does it have worker brood. At this time of year it is better to leave hives in peace. Nothing usefull to be done.
Thanks for the replys. On Oct. 15 all had eggs, larvae except this one. I caught a small swarm with a queen, kept a screen divider between them and combined after three days. They promptly killed all. It will be interesting to see what is in there later.