honey bound hive-queen still not laying

millermann1972 · May 16, 2008, 12:35:04 PM

i have a 2nd year carniolan hive that found to be honey bound. i fed very little in the early spring because of lite stores. i usually run 1 deep and a shallow to overwinter but they was building up fast so i added another hive body so that makes two hive body's and shallow super. i found swarm cells so i done some splits on the hive but didn't help. bees boiling and the poplar flow started so i added more shallow supers. i went into the hive a couple weeks ago and both hive body's and most of the honey supers where full of honey, not all capped. no eggs , open brood or capped brood. i went into the lower hive body and took out five frames of honey filled frames and put them into my weaker hives. put in 1 frame of new eggs from another hive wondering if i had a queen still and the rest drawn foundation to open the brood nest back up. went back into the hive yesterday and still no eggs and the frame i put in there just capped no queen cells. i must have a queen but how do i get her back to laying. :?

KONASDAD · May 16, 2008, 12:51:15 PM

You're doing the correct thing. You expanded the brood area by removing honey and giving drawn frames. Added supers. the only other thing you can do is a split. divide hive, make sure both halves have both eggs and brood and stores. Carniolians explode w/ spring buildup and are more likely to swarm than other types if you dont manage properly. you're doing the correct things IMO. Its possible they may have already swarmed too.

Kathyp · May 16, 2008, 02:16:38 PM

one of the signs that a hive is queenless, is putting lots of stores...especially if your other hives are not. i learned that the hard way last year. keep putting the eggs and brood in and see what happens.

millermann1972 · May 16, 2008, 02:42:40 PM

kathyp when i worked them yesterday they was docile... not aggressive at all i have read that a queenless hive would be aggressive and have a different hum sound. :?

KONASDAD · May 16, 2008, 05:06:05 PM

Quote from: millermann1972 on May 16, 2008, 02:42:40 PM
kathyp when i worked them yesterday they was docile... not aggressive at all i have read that a queenless hive would be aggressive and have a different hum sound. :?

Not always aggressive. I describe it like RPM's in a car. Queenless hive sound like 3200RPM, while queen right sounds like 1800RPM's.

Michael Bush · May 17, 2008, 07:57:39 PM

Keep in mind if you do splits it's some time before the new queen is laying.

millermann1972 · May 18, 2008, 12:23:15 PM

i guess i will put a few more frames of brood in the hive to see what happens, if that doesn't work i will combine with another hive. thanks for the replies