Failing queen, with options

[D Coates]

I've got a hive that's not had the traffic the other hives have.  I inspected it yesterday and found very spotty brood, a whole lot of drones in worker brood frames, and chalkbrood.  I found the queen and removed her.  I am getting 3 queens from B Weaver in a week or two (Supposed to be shipped on the 14th, but they sent out an E-mail indicating the cooler weather in TX may delay shipment).  I did find a swarm cell that had an egg in it and I've got 5 nucs that have Fall queens in them.

My question is, do I have the hive use the swarm cell to make a new queen or do I drop the nuc in on this hive and call it a day?  I am leaning towards using the nuc.  I don't want to wait 4 weeks and watch the hive dwindle.  I can always split off a frame or 2 and create a new nuc (with the current nuc queen) when the new B Weaver queens come in.  Other ideas?

[mgmoore7]

I would combine with the nuc. 

[RayMarler]

Combine with the nuc, that's one good reason to have nucs, and...
Chalkbrood can run in the genetic line, don't keep that line of bees.

[D Coates]

Thanks for the feedback.  I killed off the captured queen and did a newspaper combine with the nuc on Friday.  Sunday when I next saw the hive it had quite a bit of activity coming and going from the entrance and the hive was being cleaned agressively.  To me it shows the difference between a weak queen and a strong queen.  The population of the hive was strong when I removed the failing queen.  Adding a fresh Fall queen along with the already healthy population (though undoubtedly aged) may make this hive prime for a split in a month, or at the least a few stolen frames of brood for making a nuc.  I"ve come to the realization that having nucs is a really great tool to have in your beekeeping tool belt.

[Kathyp]

don't use those chalkbrood frames in the combined hive either.  do the combination, but then pull those frames and cut out the comb.  bleach dip the frames and either put in new foundation or let them draw their own.

most of the time chalkbrood is self limiting, but sometimes it can be nasty. 

[D Coates]

Well, crud...  I didn't remove the frames with chalkbrood.  I'll play it by ear and see if I can do this.  Those frames are right below the newspaper combine so the new queen may have already laid in there.

[Kathyp]

it may not be an issue.  most hives overcome chalkbrood.  some don't.  just see what happens.