Laying Workers?

Matt J · April 26, 2016, 02:28:01 PM

Quote from: sawdstmakr on April 26, 2016, 12:52:02 PM
Yes, shaking out the bees is a daylight thing. You want the bees to fly home, not walk, seriously. If you have a wooded area, nearby, close them up put them in your truck and shake them out there. The bees fly back and the laying workers are too heavy to make it. Have a box setup in the old location, the bees will beat you back to the hive. The bees that stay on the ground, are the laying workers and any remaining nurse bees. you do not want them.
Jim

I do have woods lining my property. I could tuck in there and do it. That was gonna be my next question, if they could get back from in the woods? I'm thinking this is my only option. I'm gonna go in tomorrow and look one more time, and if the problem is still there I'm going Thursday to get a queen.

Matt J · April 26, 2016, 06:42:32 PM

Quote from: sawdstmakr on April 26, 2016, 12:52:02 PM
Yes, shaking out the bees is a daylight thing. You want the bees to fly home, not walk, seriously. If you have a wooded area, nearby, close them up put them in your truck and shake them out there. The bees fly back and the laying workers are too heavy to make it. Have a box setup in the old location, the bees will beat you back to the hive. The bees that stay on the ground, are the laying workers and any remaining nurse bees. you do not want them.
Jim

Jim. Do you know if I can put them back on the frames that they've drawn out? These are the ones with multiple eggs. Or should I just start again on new foundation? If they really are laying workers, it would be all drones, so I'm not sure if giving them those cells back would be a good idea.

Matt J · April 26, 2016, 07:32:58 PM

More pics of what I'm seeing.

Dallasbeek · April 26, 2016, 08:16:23 PM

Drones are not necessarily bad. The bees want 15-20% drones at this time of year. Assuming they have good math skills, that might save the new queen from having to lay more drones.

Dallasbeek · April 26, 2016, 08:26:23 PM

It does look like yor girls arebshooting out a lot of multiples -- not just doubles. That can't be a good thing. Could get crowded in those cells. I suspect, though, that the bees will sort it out. Why waste good comb?

GSF · April 27, 2016, 08:55:09 AM

The egg police will remove all but one egg. You could take out a couple frames or just leave a couple in there, and keep them somewhere else for about 4-5 days. Then the eggs would have hatched and the larva die(I think). Drones are a good thing but right now you need a workers not welfare'r's

Matt J · April 28, 2016, 09:08:19 PM

Well, I did it. Took the box 100 yards away and shook them all out. Put a queen in a cage in and we'll see what happens. A lot of the bees did beat me back. I opened it up to look at the queen cage to see if they were trying to kill her. There's a good bit of bees back in the box, some on the queen cage. Did the Michael Palmer finger sweep and they were easily moved off the cage. Can't really tell if they were trying to kill her or not. A good bit of them were extending their proboscis into the cage. Who knows. I know this method is not ideal, but it was my only option. They'll probably kill her, but maybe I'll get lucky. They were already drawing out more comb though, so that's good.

BeeMaster2 · April 29, 2016, 01:17:57 PM

Matt,
Offering their tongues is a very good sign, easily pushing them out of the way is another good sign. I doubt they will kill her. Sounds like they were eager for a queen. Check on her today and see if you can let her out. I have placed queens directly into a queenless hives with no problems.
Jim

Matt J · April 29, 2016, 02:44:54 PM

Quote from: sawdstmakr on April 29, 2016, 01:17:57 PM
Matt,
Offering their tongues is a very good sign, easily pushing them out of the way is another good sign. I doubt they will kill her. Sounds like they were eager for a queen. Check on her today and see if you can let her out. I have placed queens directly into a queenless hives with no problems.
Jim

I watched Michael Palmer's video on what workers eager to accept a queen look like. After that I went in to see how they were acting. I was able to gently brush them off with the back of my finger. None appeared to be stuck on the cage. But they did seem very excited, which worries me. Hopefully they just want her out so they can get right.

Matt J · May 02, 2016, 07:59:15 PM

Well. I shook the bees last Thursday and put in the new Queen. Went in today and she had been released. Pulled a frame and saw her, alive and well!!! Now let's hope they let her stay! Feels good to see her alive!!!

BeeMaster2 · May 02, 2016, 10:29:52 PM

Glad to hear it worked out. She will bee fine.
Jim

Dallasbeek · May 03, 2016, 12:11:26 AM

Bravo! GOOD JOB.

GSF · May 03, 2016, 09:00:31 AM

...now exhale

Matt J · May 03, 2016, 11:01:17 AM

Quote from: GSF on May 03, 2016, 09:00:31 AM
...now exhale

I still saw multiple eggs in cells yesterday, but I saw the queen so...

Matt J · May 06, 2016, 06:58:57 PM

Was due for an inspection on my other hive so I popped the lid on the Laying Worker hive, 5 days after queen release. Saw her alive and well as well as eggs and larvae. Headed in the right direction!

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cao · May 06, 2016, 08:08:18 PM

That's a good looking queen.

omnimirage · May 07, 2016, 05:55:39 AM

Well done! Healthy looking queen. What could have caused the multiple eggs in the cells like that? Sure was an interesting case.

Matt J · May 07, 2016, 07:45:46 AM

Quote from: omnimirage on May 07, 2016, 05:55:39 AM
Well done! Healthy looking queen. What could have caused the multiple eggs in the cells like that? Sure was an interesting case.

Worker bees laying eggs due to hive being queenless. Not really what I wanted to deal with in one of my first 2 hives, but I learned a lot.

Modenacart · May 07, 2016, 09:24:58 AM

If you have another give you can combine and the new hive will take care of the laying worker.

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Matt J · May 07, 2016, 09:53:57 AM

Quote from: Modenacart on May 07, 2016, 09:24:58 AM
If you have another give you can combine and the new hive will take care of the laying worker.

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Yes. That was gonna be my second option of they didn't accept the new queen. I really want to keep 2 hives, so I tried this first.