Advice on my struggling hive?

dwbrinton · October 20, 2014, 11:27:41 PM

Hi!

I have 3 hives in my backyard. I just condensed them down to two supers, one for the brood and the other full of honey. 2 of the hives are looking good with a lot of capped brood, etc.

One of the hives (re-queened this spring) had a normal amount of workers but only a few capped brood cells (15% of 2-3 frames) and no visible eggs, no queen, no queen/supersedure cells, looks like the queen has been gone for about 2-3 weeks!!!

My question is, what should I do with this weak/queenless hive at this point in the season? Can I get a new queen at this point? Should I combine or split the weak hive into the other two?

Thanks for any advice,

Dave
SLC, UT

don2 · October 20, 2014, 11:44:32 PM

A little late for re queening, I would think. I would use the news paper method and divide with the other two. Early as possible next spring you can get a split from both good hive's. My 2 cents worth. don-2

GSF · October 21, 2014, 06:35:17 AM

Dave, I don't know your neck of the woods but I bet if you tried a split the queen would be hard pressed to find a drone. Also you'd have to look at the stores - honey and "pollen".

hjon71 · October 21, 2014, 07:08:13 AM

I'd be looking for a mated queen. If one wasn't available quickly, I'd combine.

dwbrinton · October 21, 2014, 10:46:45 AM

Thanks for the advice.

Is there a place to buy a mated queen right now?

I called KonaQueen (Big Island, HI) but they said they will not ship to UT due to the risk of the queen not making the shipping...

GSF · October 21, 2014, 10:18:07 PM

Here's a couple of links to some bee suppliers. I don't have a clue if they have anything;

This one has several links; http://georgiabeekeeper.com/suppliers.htm

http://www.mannlakeltd.com/

http://lookoutmountainhoneybees.com/

jonesjungle · October 22, 2014, 12:24:47 AM

I looked up beekeepers in Utah and found this. Maybe he can help, They won't let me post the url but it is, 3 bees honey company.

jonesjungle · October 22, 2014, 12:45:03 AM

I looked up beekeepers in Utah and found this. Maybe he can help, I guess I haven't posted enough to share a link but you can look up : 3 bee honey in Utah

Sorry for the double post, Can't figure out how to delete it?

hjon71 · October 22, 2014, 01:01:07 AM

Local is best so if you can find queens in your area go that way. If not I'd be more inclined to look at California next. But that's me. I wouldn't waste time either, find one soon or combine. You can split again next spring.

dwbrinton · October 22, 2014, 11:18:32 AM

Thanks for the advice, looks like I am going to split the 3rd hive onto the other two with the newspaper technique. I actually had a great experience with Buzz's Bees, they were recommended from message related to this thread. I emailed them and they got right back to me, saying they did have mated queens, but that it would be kind of late in the season, etc. Good advice, friendly customer service, I will use them in the future.

.buzzsbees.com

Thanks again everyone, seems like only awesome people keep bees.

OldMech · October 23, 2014, 01:27:19 AM

An option you might want to look into, if not now, then for the future.. Keep a couple of nuc's.. In the situation you are in, combining a nuc to your hive would instantly bring it up to par with more bees and a laying queen.. If you know someone in the area that overwinters nucs, you could get one NOW instead of in the spring and do the same thing, combine it with your queenless hive.. Just thought I would toss that out there.

hjon71 · October 23, 2014, 04:19:15 AM

I don't get it being too late in the season to buy a mated queen.... :idunno:

OldMech · October 23, 2014, 12:09:41 PM

well... would you like to break up a hive or nuc you have prepared for winter so you can sell a 20 dollar queen? You will need to do something with her bees. combine them with other hives etc.. You are out that hive that should have overwintered well, and have to do the work to combine etc, for a 20 dollar queen...
I am annoyed when i get a call for a queen at this late of a date, and i typically will not sell JUST a queen.. It is not so much that there are NONE available, it is more that they become spoken for after a certain date.. Paying the price for a full nuc on the other hand is a viable option.. the seller intended to sell it as a nuc in the spring anyhow, and has lost nothing.