LAYING WORKER HIVE

[COLVIN]

CAN I GRAFT A QUEEN CELL INTO A LAYING WORKER HIVE SUCESSFULLY OR DO I NEED TO DO THE FINSKY MOVE WITH MOVING HIVE 10 FT. AND SETTING NEW HIVE IN OLD LOCATION? HIVE HAS BEEN QUEENLESS FOR OVER A MONTH I'M SURE.

COLVIN

[Finsky]

DO I NEED TO DO THE FINSKY MOVE WITH MOVING HIVE 10 FT.

That is nothing to do with queenles hive. I move hives when I stop hives SWARMING.

You can give a couple of queen cells to the hive. You may give a frame of larvae that bees feel that they have real hive and something to do.

I should by a good laying queen. They are very sheap.

[Brian D. Bray]

I wouldn't jump off the bridge for going with a new queen.  It can take up to 4 or 5 attempts to successfully requeen a laying worker hive.  The best way I've found is to put in a frame of brood (w/eggs) from a queen right hive and let them correct their own problem.  
Again you might have to put in a frame of brood 4 or 5 times to correct a laying worker hive.  At $20.00 a queen (in many cases) that equates to an investment of up to $100.00 to solve a problem that is more easily corrected by letting the bees raise their own queen.

[Scadsobees]

If you happen to have an extra queen cell(s) around, by all means, drop it in there, gently wedge it between top bars.  I'd recommend a scent masker (sugar water with honeybhealthy or mint or vanilla) on the queen cell.  And if you have a frame of eggs, put that in there just in case too.

If you're running 100 hive, it isn't worth it, but if you have only a few like me, then yes it is.

But first make sure it really is a laying worker and not a newly-mated queen or a badly mated one.  Either of those makes thing a bit easier.  And it is often hard to tell the difference until brood gets capped.  Then there usually isn't much question.

I've only had one laying worker experience, and putting a queen cell in it solved it.  Although I didn't know what I was doing at the time and didn't think it would work and ended up dumping them out before I realized that there was actual worker brood present, and then found the poor little queen sitting by her lonesome on the bottom board and reintroduced her but they didn't like what I did and ended up making yet another queen which meant that I had set them back yet another 4 weeks

But they did survive and build back up.

-rick

[qa33010]

I read a write up in the August American Bee Journal about Russian and Italian laying workers and using queen cells that were about to hatch.  I have not had this experience, matter of time, to draw on.  Good luck. and let us know what happens.

David

[Finsky]

.  It can take up to 4 or 5 attempts to successfully requeen a laying worker hive.  

I have had no difficulties with worker hives. I have often worker laying mating nucs.

I see the difficulty in season. When in July bees accept directly 80-90% After a month in September they are ready to kill 90% and after acception they renew 30%.

Best results I have get when

* give a frame of larvae. They start to raise emergency cell.
* let queen cells to be capped. It takes 5 days.
* after capping bees accept a new queen
* destroy queen cells.

[Brian D. Bray]

Finsky, your point is well made.  I sould have gone on to explain that the best way to have a laying worker hive accept a new queen is to introduce a frame of brood w/eggs along with the queen as the hive will assume the two are connected.  i.e. The new queen is responsible for the new eggs.

[Finsky]

Where the new queen now?

In many places it is late summer now to let hive raise own queen. It has about one month untill self made queen lay eggs. Des the queen have time locally to raise wintering bees?

I may still here make a nuc if I collect from hives 8 frames of brood.
After 3 weeks I have actually very few brood in hives and I feed hives full of sugar syrup.

Now if I have 5 frames full of brood, the winterball will be 5 frame size and I must take extra room away from box. But I can help and take some brood frames from stronger hives.