Finding Queen When you Need To?

Michael Bush · September 11, 2007, 08:55:30 AM

>sometimes the ones without the queen in it are more fidgety.

You can also listen. The queenless one usually has a dissonant "roar" going on while the queenright one is usually a harmonious, quiet hum.

mgmoore7 · September 11, 2007, 08:59:49 AM

By the way, I am planning to build a OB hive over the winter so I should be able to get some practice next year.

Understudy · September 13, 2007, 09:10:27 AM

My wife who spends next to no time on my hives can find the queen usually without any problem. It makes me very jealous.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Dr/B · September 13, 2007, 10:27:01 PM

Quote from: kathyp on September 09, 2007, 10:02:23 PM
you could take each frame and knock the bees off onto a sheet. put frames back in hive. after a bit, you'll probably be able to see a ball of bees on the sheet and the queen will be in it. protect yourself.

Do this, but I would add put an empty deep brood box on bottom, a queen excluder on top of this bottom box, then another empty deep brood box on top. Now knock the bees off frame by frame, and watch the excluder.....the queen will stick on top of it, while the other bees run thru the excluder down below...............

Hope this helps.

Dr/B :mrgreen:

Brian D. Bray · September 13, 2007, 11:12:22 PM

Dr/B

That will work great at this time of year when there are few drones. In mid-Sumer though it would be hard to find the queen amid all the drones, me thinks!
It sounds like trying to find a needle in a haystack by running it all through a sieve.

Dr/B · September 13, 2007, 11:53:53 PM

Exactly.

It's a last resort.

Sometimes finding the ole gal is hard.

mgmoore7 · September 14, 2007, 09:58:05 AM

"Do this, but I would add put an empty deep brood box on bottom, a queen excluder on top of this bottom box, then another empty deep brood box on top. Now knock the bees off frame by frame, and watch the excluder.....the queen will stick on top of it, while the other bees run thru the excluder down below..............."

I tried this although not do successfull. I put a deep box, then excluder then another deep. I shook the bees off into the top deep and tried to smoke them down. The bees just ran up the sides of the box. After 2 frames I gave up on this. Maybe if they were used to the excluder it would have worked.

rdy-b · September 14, 2007, 08:10:18 PM

did you try puting another frame of brood from another colony and come back to it later after closing them back up by now they will need to settel down a bit. worth a try RDY-B

mgmoore7 · September 14, 2007, 11:09:02 PM

Quote from: rdy-b on September 14, 2007, 08:10:18 PM
did you try puting another frame of brood from another colony and come back to it later after closing them back up by now they will need to settel down a bit. worth a try RDY-B

Yes. Thanks for the tip.

I think the only thing I did not try was torching the whole hive. That would definately kill the queen. :-D

Dr/B · September 15, 2007, 12:14:14 AM

For a really hot hive, I have smoked them REALLY well, AND misted them with sugar water REALLY good before working with them. This seem to calm them down somewhat. I made a homemade mix of almond extract, mixed it with some rubbing alcohol, and misted my bee suit before I put it on, to keep them off me. It seemed to help.

While you're working it, move the entire hive to another location in the bee yard temporarily and put an empty box where the hive was, to eliminate some of the forager bees coming into the hive. Put it back when you're through.

If you've not tried it, you might do this:

Try removing all frames from the hive. Brush all bees down into empty bottom deep brood box. Place empty drawn combs in bottom box with bees, then place a queen excluder over it. Now pull the brood up into a second deep brood box, and place on top. Give it a day or two, and recheck to see if queen is now in bottom box laying eggs. With eggs there, and mainly empty combs, you should have a sporting chance of finding her.

also............I really like MB's "divide and conquer" strategy.................

mgmoore7 · September 15, 2007, 07:01:57 AM

"Try removing all frames from the hive. Brush all bees down into empty bottom deep brood box. Place empty drawn combs in bottom box with bees, then place a queen excluder over it. Now pull the brood up into a second deep brood box, and place on top. Give it a day or two, and recheck to see if queen is now in bottom box laying eggs. With eggs there, and mainly empty combs, you should have a sporting chance of finding her."

Thanks, I did not try that one. I may have too.

Fortunately, they are not so hot that I cannot work them yet. I would just say they are hot enough that I don't enjoy it.

Thanks