how few worker bees

slacker361 · May 25, 2012, 09:37:17 AM

How few worker bees can a hive survive with? I have a queen with about a cup full of bees in one hive.... will hey build up enough to make it through the winter?

yockey5 · May 25, 2012, 10:09:12 AM

I doubt it. I would give them a frame of capped brood and check for other problems in this hive.

FRAMEshift · May 25, 2012, 11:51:51 AM

Is the queen laying at all?

BeeMaster2 · May 25, 2012, 12:41:14 PM

Your biggest problem is the Q will only lay as many eggs as the bees can cover. The problem is that with that few of bees, they are dying too before the new ones are replacing them. I kept a Q in my OB hive last winter. By spring I may have had 60 bees in all. I put her in a split that I took half of the bees from a full hive this past February. It is a full hive that I plan to remove @ 2 medium supers of honey from and move her into town where we have a flow on to start filling them again.

Give her a frame or 2 from your other hives, if you have them.

My strongest hive ever came from a supplier that sold me a Q plus 2 frames because she hadn't grown all winter. I put her in a split with lots of bees and she filled 4 drawn empty frames wall to wall and every other empty cell in the hive in a week. Provided 150 pounds of honey last year.
Good luck.
Jim

Finski · May 25, 2012, 01:01:29 PM

Quote from: slacker361 on May 25, 2012, 09:37:17 AM
How few worker bees can a hive survive with? I have a queen with about a cup full of bees in one hive.... will hey build up enough to make it through the winter?

hah hah. And the idea was...

One professional beekeeper has told that smallest hive which he has seen after winter, is 5 workers and the queen.

Yes, we talk about them "cup colonies".
In practice it is a spare queen. When you give a frame of emerging bees, it is not yet able to make brood. With 2 brood frame they occypy 4 frames and can make 2 brood frames. So it start as mating nucs.

So in practice, you make a nuc to the queen and so it starts.

-

slacker361 · May 25, 2012, 01:58:44 PM

Brand new queen.... An took some bees from my last hive. which is very strong.. but maybe I have to get someone and put in there.... a frame of capped brood witht he nurse bees on it? what ya think?

yockey5 · May 25, 2012, 02:52:10 PM

Quote from: slacker361 on May 25, 2012, 01:58:44 PM
Brand new queen.... An took some bees from my last hive. which is very strong.. but maybe I have to get someone and put in there.... a frame of capped brood with he nurse bees on it? what ya think?

that's it, and it will work........ it's still early.