Queenless in October

[beek4018]

Went out to check the feeder and such on my hive today, and discovered that the girls seem to be slowing down on the feeding.

The top 10-frame deep is totally full of honey/2:1 syrup ( mostly capped).

Down below in the lower deep there is a lot of pollen and a bit of honey/syrup and NO BROOD.

At least there was none that I could see.  I'm not sure if the queen has no room or is so limited that the nest is really small.  I didn't get to look at every single frame down below but looked at 5-6 in the center and saw nothing ( no eggs, no larva, no capped brood).

  Two weeks ago the top deep had three frames packed with brood.  Last wee there was nothing up top but honey/syrup and I didn't look below.  Now there is no sign of a queen.

$^* - I'd like to think I just missed her.  But if she is missing this late in the season, is there anything I can do?  Is it too late to re-queen.  If there's no brood to work with I assume they can't requeen themselves.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[bee-nuts]

Do you have a extra drawn comb?  I would stick it in the middle of bottom deep and come back for a quick peak in a couple weeks.

It possible there is nowhere to lay.

[Jim134]

The Queen may have stop laying no room .      


                       BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

[tecumseh]

if you have fed heavily with limited room then as several other poster have suggest the queen could have quit laying simply due to lack of room.

another take might be... some races of bees are more likely to shut down when the season turn the least bit cold.  those races that are promoted as overwintering on very limited winter stores are good choices for this possibility.

[beek4018]

I assume I stop feeding, but other than adding drawn comb.  How do I free up space?

I have no empty drawn frames.

There is open dspace around the edges of every frame in the lower deep.  Will she not use that, but only a cluster of open cells in the center of a frame or frames?

[AllenF]

Extract the honey from a frame or two.  Get a empty frame in there and let the bees build comb.   Or take out frames and take them away and let some other bees rob and clean it out.   

[L Daxon]

Allen,
are you saying they will draw out comb this late in the season?  I was in one of my hives yesterday and was surprised to see 3 frames or more that had not been drawn out yet (in 3 deep 8 mediums).  I am feeding and wondered if they are just storing the syrup and when they run out of space to store, if they will just quit taking the syrup or will they make wax to make more room.  I seemed to have plenty of brood but was awfully light on honey.  Tons of pollen.

[Michael Bush]

It is October.  The queen probably shut down for the winter.

[bee-nuts]

mine have been drawing comb nicely with the late warm spell and still making good amounts of brood.

[Michael Bush]

Some will raise brood all winter.  Some will shut down as early as September or every time there is a dearth.  I would not be surprised to find brood or no brood this time of year.

[beek4018]

Haven't found the queen, but did find a single frame ( both sides) with larva and brood in all stages.  It is in the top deep.  It seems she never really moved down, just off to the side.

[Finski]

.
It seems that you have a hive in good condition for winter...capped stores and brooding ceased. It is a good sign.