Test Frame

[spud]

If you put a test frame of eggs and young brood into a suspected queenless hive, how reliable are the results? Do they always raise queen cells if queenless?

I put test frames into two of my suspected hives (no queen seen and broodless) and they just ignored it.

Your thoughts most welcome.

[SgtMaj]

My thought is look closer for the queens.

If you're in a dearth right now, they may have just stopped producing brood for a bit.

[TwT]

If you put a test frame of eggs and young brood into a suspected queenless hive, how reliable are the results? Do they always raise queen cells if queenless?

I put test frames into two of my suspected hives (no queen seen and broodless) and they just ignored it.

Your thoughts most welcome.

a test frame will tell you if they are queenless or not, I always use them when questioning a hive for queen right

[rdy-b]

This year i have had trouble getting my quenelles hives to make emergency queen cells -the troublesome ones are the ones that go queenless and while they still have a chance to make a cell-with young larvae they dont-sometimes queen stops laying for a number of reasons and something happens to her -then they dont have the young eggs or larvae to make a cell-I always put in frames of brood -that keeps them from going laying worker-(brood pheromone)-and also give them young larvae to make a cell -sometimes it takes up to four trys with young larvae to get them to make a cell -this is becoming a common problem and many believe we are breeding these queens so they dont swarm -people find that a good trait to have in a queen -but on the other hand it seams to make the bees lose some of there inherited nature of survival-so they are becoming more difficult to induce into emergency -or even superseder cells   -I can tell if a colony is queenless just by lifting the lid and by the sound of the hive  ( usually  ;) )  but there is nothing wrong with a test frame but it is not absolute- 8-) RDY-B

[spud]

Well, convinced they were queenless i bought a cuople of queens.... you guessed it when i checked the other day before introducing my new queens I found queens in both hive, so at least on this occasion I should have listened to what the bees were trying to tell me!

[TwT]

spud your not the first this happened to, most order new queens then install just to find her dead in a few days, I had one hive that had no sign of a queen or cells, I put in 2 test frames a week apart and they drew nothing, no signs of laying worker or queen, it went like this for about a month and all the capped cells had hatched hatched, by this time I raised a few queens cells to add to this hive and make a few nuc's and I checked it before adding a cell and low and behold the bottom deep had 3 frames full of eggs and larva on both sides and then I found her, big pretty queen. sometimes patience pays off.

now you can make you a few nuc's to winter with those queens you bought. good luck!!