I've no experience with late requeening i.e. after September, so perhaps your plan is the best. Certainly finding an unmarked Q in a box of psychos is not for the faint hearted and not something you can fairly ask someone else to do (though many of those on here who raise queens will have been asked by others to do this - I know I have).
Oh Bridget - that Q needs dealt with her. I've been there after a particular Q was ruining my beekeeping. After being beaten back a couple of times I eventually dealt with her. I let the problem drift but never again - here's a suggestion based on ideas from others for a strategy that helped me. On a really good day, take the bees out of the beehouse some distance away but leave some frames/super in place, (flyers will off, return and reduce numbers) then split whats left into two (thats what I did) or three nuc boxes. Wait 15 minutes and listen (you might not need 15 mins). The quiet box will have the Q. Now you are looking for a Q in a nuc. I use a damp towel to cover frames not being looked at. What you do with her depends on what you have available. I was lucky in that I had access to a replacement Q (Thanks Gav) but the potential for a rogue colony is one reason I try to ensure I've always got a backup Q on site. I'm sure someone would be willing to help - how about a beginner who needs to learn about finding Qs (and of how nasty a colony can be)?Originally Posted by Bridget
Hi Bridget
I would attempt the requeen now because if it doesn't go to plan there is just time to do it again
Almost all commercially produced queens are to be guaranteed to produce gentle bees
Luckily you have a couple of queens already on hand thanks to Drumgerry
Things will start getting better right away after the requeen and 6 weeks later everything Hunky Dory
A possible way is take the original hive off to the side and after a few hours lift the combs out one at a time and move each one to a spare box until the crazy queens are found
Its tempting to leave it as is but I have always regretted that in the past
I sometimes have to relearn that lesson but it's always a mistake to leave I am certain
Martha Carnie (sic) did it on the TV last year while I shouted NO! NO! NO! at the screen lol!
Feckless drone has a better suggestion if you have the equipment
I'm slow typing
Last edited by The Drone Ranger; 17-07-2015 at 11:14 AM.
Where's the SBAi 'Like' button?!
Keep one of those nucs you've just created and slip in that queen in a cage you organised in advance. Then what? Various options. Reconstruct the monster and go through it again in a week (when it will be in a *really* bad mood) to remove queen cells. Mark and clip the original queen and return her to the original site for a week with all the bees except the nuc with the new queen and remove the old queen 6 hours before combining. Maybe return one frame of brood to the original site (makes it easy to deal with the queen cells there) and keep the rest in nuc boxes until the new queen has settled for a week and can be combined with all the rest (after removing queen cells). Life is full of choices!
Bear in mind that these bad-tempered colonies often calm down again (to some extent) when the nectar gets flowing again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nagC41Pe4c4
my final word
Green and red rep is always amusing on forums.
Thanks to you all for your help and thoughts. Poor Drumgerry has drawn the short straw to give us a hand - some of it sounds a bit complicated, I think I will need a flowchart to see how it all works, and I will get together some helpers as well and the queens will be found and dispatched henceforth.
We will let you know!
How did I miss this fantastic suggestion the first time round?
Yesterday, the sound I'd been waiting for:
the cathedral choir of foragers, humming in the vault of limes.
Best sound of the year :-) :-) :-)
...then the rain started again. Same again this morning :-(
Oh well, at least it won't be too dry for the nectar to flow!
My colonies at the croft are chucking out drone larvae, and even the occasional drone. I think they've been terribly hive-bound lately - perhaps that's the reason.
Kitta
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