Can a laying worker pass through a queen excluder? I'm a newbie and am concerned about this.
Gary
Yes definitely. Their head and thorax are the same size as the workers. Their abdomen may bee a little bit bigger.
Jim
Sure can. That's why most beeks that end up with laying workers end up "shaking" the bees out of the hive. Can't really tell a laying worker from a normal one. The only good thing is that a queenright hive will not allow a laying worker to enter it.
Okay, thanks, but drlonzo, am I right that if there's a laying worker, it's more difficult to introduce a new queen? Explain to me how this works, please -- either of you or anybody else. I don't curently have this problem, but can see how it would easily come about. If you shake the bees out of the hive, you've shaken off the laying worker, foragers and nurse bees, right? Nurse bees aren't able to fly? Is the laying queeen going to be too heavy to fly? It's all a big mystery to me and my more experienced friends (but not as experienced as I'm finding on this forum). Thanks a lot for all the help you give us newbies.
Gary
Laying workers, there are always more than one in there. :brian:
Here's what Michael has to say.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm (http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm)
I usually just shake them out and remove the old hive. The workers will move into a near by hive.
By the time you realize you have a laying worker, the bees are so old that within a few weeks the hive becomes very weak from old age. The bugs quickly take over before a new queen has a chance to lay and hatch out her eggs to start building it up. Better to use that queen to make a split with a strong hive.
Jim
Quote from: sawdstmakr on April 28, 2014, 09:41:04 PM
I usually just shake them out and remove the old hive. The workers will move into a near by hive.
By the time you realize you have a laying worker, the bees are so old that within a few weeks the hive becomes very weak from old age. The bugs quickly take over before a new queen has a chance to lay and hatch out her eggs to start building it up. Better to use that queen to make a split with a strong hive.
Jim
This is by far your best bet. Yes you can give them frames of brood for two or three week and introduce a queen.
In that same time frame you can start a strong nuc in their equip that will be going strong before the laying worker hive got started.