When to kill the weak queen

dpence · June 16, 2008, 12:12:31 PM

Is it logical to kill the weak queen at least 24 hours before introducing a new queen? From what I have read, that seems to make sense to me. I thought when I get a the new queen I would do just that. Thoughts?

David

annette · June 16, 2008, 02:17:38 PM

The average opinion seems to be wait 24 hours before introducing a new queen.

mark · June 16, 2008, 06:49:17 PM

in my opinion it is not logical to kill the queen at all. is there evidence that she is failing? are they starting supercedure? it's better to stick her in a nuc or even cage her until your new queen is accepted and working. the old one is still a resource for extra brood. if something goes wrong with the new queen the old one is better than none.

dpence · June 17, 2008, 01:16:47 AM

Quote from: mark on June 16, 2008, 06:49:17 PM
in my opinion it is not logical to kill the queen at all.

That is probably a good idea. Makes sense to have a plan b. Her brood pattern is terrible and it seems that she was not mated well. Lots of drone cells in worker cell area, makes me think the former. We had lots of cloudy and rainy weather too. My other hives are doing very well in spite of the weather. I pulled honey today for extraction. Just worried they will not build enough for winter this first year.

David

Scadsobees · June 17, 2008, 10:27:42 AM

Off with her head!!! Then again I've got a few backups right now....

If you cage her make sure that she has a few attendants with her. I caged one without any (I intended to kill her, her progeny are terrible!!) and she was dead overnight.

JP · June 17, 2008, 10:36:04 AM

Quote from: mark on June 16, 2008, 06:49:17 PM
in my opinion it is not logical to kill the queen at all. is there evidence that she is failing? are they starting supercedure? it's better to stick her in a nuc or even cage her until your new queen is accepted and working. the old one is still a resource for extra brood. if something goes wrong with the new queen the old one is better than none.

Always good to have a backup plan and I believe this is what M.B. does as well.

...JP

Brian D. Bray · June 17, 2008, 09:37:24 PM

If you have a queen you're unhappy with, start a nuc. That way if the new queen is not accepted or another hive goes queenless, you have a solution at hand. A queen doesn't really do her best production until years 2 and 3 so replacing a queen every year, IMO, is executing her just as she becomes most valuable. Let hives do natural supercedure, you will end up with a queen that is probably just as good, if not better, than what you would buy. If you must remove a queen start a nuc and keep her as an emergency solution elsewhere in your bee yard.
I wouldn't kill a weak queen until late fall and then I'd combine the nuc she was in with one of the weaker hives.

dpence · June 17, 2008, 11:56:04 PM

The carniolans arrived today USPS Express...nice timing. I caged the old queen with a few attendants and put her in a cool place with some honey dripped on the cage. I think she will last until I can see how the new queen will do. Thanks for the advice.

David

rast · June 22, 2008, 10:08:59 PM

My first hive took care of it themselves which is how I prefered it. Just not producing anymore. They knew it also, superceded her. Now have a population explosion in that hive. However, they went from small dark bees to larger yellower bees and not as docile a temperment. Save the old queen if you can as others have advised.

Michael Bush · July 03, 2008, 11:35:28 PM

>Is it logical to kill the weak queen at least 24 hours before introducing a new queen?

I put her in a nuc the day before. Then if things don't go well I have a spare queen. Sometimes you find she just hasn't hit her stride and after a while the nuc takes off. :)