A week ago I cut a colony out of a house wall. I saved as much brood as I could by wiring to empty frames and set them up with some good empty comb w/ a little honey and pollen, too. I searched and searched for queen during the "cut out" to no avail. I don't know if I have her. Furthermore, the brood wired into the frames is in such a fragile state I'm reluctant to make much effort to look for eggs, much less the queen.
This is a weak hive, but bees are acting cohesively (like they have a queen). I have another weak hive and would like to combine the two. The other has a laying queen for sure. Can I combine the two hives with newspaper between without being certain that the new hive is queenright. What would likely happen if I do have two queens?
Or should I just risk further disturbing/harming these poor bees and search the wired-in comb for eggs or if I'm lucky the queen? Perhaps it is a greater disturbance/harm to combine the hives without knowing the queen status of each?
Ben
The bees may be acting more cohesive due solely to the presence of the brood. I would check for eggs in the brood comb--carefully of course-- this will tell you if you have a queen there. If no evidence of fresh eggs or larva I would combine using the newspaper method.
Thanks, Brian.