Laying Workers

[max2]

I can deal with them but they are a pain and take work to fix.
It looks to me like they mostly occur this time of the year when a nuc or a walk away split loses a queen and you are not right on top of it.
I had two in the last few weeks  after a long spell without any.
Can anybody see a pattern when they occur?

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm

[max2]

Hi Michael,
I do something similar.
I was wondering why  - in the middle of summer here - the bees did not make a new queen? I can understand that late in the season they can't make a new queen.
These small hives had a queen, they had eggs/larvae. Obviously the queen died and I wonder why they did not succedd in making a new queen? I know s..t happens but i wonder if there is a pattern?

My proces to deal with laying Workers this time of the year is simple:
- I make up a few nuc's and give each nuc 3 frames with brood PLUS two frames from the laying worker hive with brood scratched. I shake the bees off some distance from the original hive.
- I place a few frames with open brood and some empty frames in the original laying worker location to catch any returning bees.
It seems to work for me and is using all the available resources.

[Brian MCquilkin]

I can deal with them but they are a pain and take work to fix.

Earlier on in my beekeeping adventures, I wasted new queens and many hours trying to fix laying workers. Now I go for the quick fix. Dump them out on the ground about 10 feet in front of queen right hives and move on.

[iddee]

Me, too, Brian.

[max2]

" Dumping them on the ground"

But the bees will go back to the hive....and then?

I place a nuc with a couple of frames with uncapped brood to catch the returning bees - seems a waste to let them die.

[Michael Bush]

They almost always raise a queen if they can.  But sometimes she gets eaten by a dragonfly or hits a windshield. Once they don?t have the means to make a queen.

[rast]

Late summer, dumped them on the ground, removed their hive and stand. The majority went to the hive that was closest to where their hive was. Two weeks later I split it.