Have a double deep hive with a spotty drone pattern, cells with multiple eggs, and superceedure cells. I have not spotted a queen yet, but assuming laying worker?? Had a laying worker In a Nuc last year, dumped bees 300 yards away, gave frame of eggs, and ended up being my best hive.
Should I just see what happens with queen cells?
Should I get a few mated queens and split up?
I also just saw a video from Bob Binnie where he drizzled a bunch of sugar syrup over a strong single deep then sat a laying worker deep on top of it.
Would just like to give it a chance heading into winter...
Quote from: BurleyBee on September 25, 2020, 05:44:12 PM
Have a double deep hive with a spotty drone pattern, cells with multiple eggs, and superceedure cells.
Not likely if laying workers. They see a colony with a queen cell as queen right. In odd cases they will draw a queen cell from an unfertilized egg (worker egg). But it does not mature to a queen.
Add your location to your profile--- it makes all the difference in the world what you would do with a queen cell at this time of the year.
Burley I watched the same video and was dazzled with enlightenment by the way he handled that laying worker colony and the explanations that he gave for the way he did it!
I know. Had never seen that. Wondered if breaking up my hive into nucs, dousing with syrup, and throwing a mated queen in would work. Don?t want to waste a queen though.
Quote from: BurleyBee on September 26, 2020, 12:43:29 PM
Wondered if breaking up my hive into nucs, dousing with syrup, and throwing a mated queen in would work.
Not likely. If you want to make up nucs take a frame of brood, honey, pollen from strong hives and use the drawn frames from the laying worker hive to replace the frames you took from the strong hives. Trying to save aging foragers and laying workers is a waste of resources in my opinion, its just not worth it. Placing frames of brood into a laying worker hive is also a waste, making up a nuc with the same resources will put you further ahead than hoping a frame a brood will turn them around. I shake the bees off into soapy water because a lot off them will be killed by the strong hive you introduce them to anyway. Combing strong hives is one thing, but adding laying workers, old foragers, or possibly sick bees from weak hives puts undue stress on a good colony. I don't know about Mississippi, but up here in the northeast its way to late to make nucs. I would just freeze and store the frames for next year.
Give them a chance by taking the hive completely apart. Take it 20 yards away. Shake all the bees out. Go put the equipment into storage. Do not put it back. Absolutely nothing can remain in the old spot; nothing, gone, right down to the grass and dirt.
The bees chance given is then up to them to successfully beg into the other hives and join those colonies. Most will be allowed in. The LWs and misfits will be killed on the doorsteps.
This is the only way to deal with LWs effectively. The alternative is to terminate (shake out into soapy water).
The equipment that was taken away can then be cleaned up, repaired, made ready to be redeployed to the hives that need it later. If you still want or must have that hive operational, then just go back to the apiary 3 weeks after you had taken it apart and shook out. At that later date makeup a new hive from splits or pulling resources from the remaining hives and introduced a MATED queen to the new build.
The point is; once a colony has progressed to LW it is a complete loss as a hive. The only reasonable course is to toss the bees out, salvage the equipment, go back and try again 3 weeks later, completely anew.
You can certainly try other things if you enjoy exercises of perilous futility fraught with disappointment. Others may make suggestions and share experiences. However, if you want to properly deal with it, be done with it, and move on to assured success with least effort then follow this advice.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for responding y?all.
Quote from: BurleyBee on September 26, 2020, 12:43:29 PM
I know. Had never seen that. Wondered if breaking up my hive into nucs, dousing with syrup, and throwing a mated queen in would work. Don?t want to waste a queen though.
My thoughts; It is so late now. I would think splitting would be out of the question for a normal hive. I would not try to split a laying worker hive anytime. The HoneyPumps suggestion is tried and true. Just for fun and the experience however, I might try what Mr Binnie did just for the experiment of the deal. I am not recommending it because I really doubt there is little Mr HoneyPump has not tried and learned by years of experience. The ball is in your court. Let us know what you decide and the results.