Dogwalker
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help finding the queen pleaseor not in my case.
Checked my bees this afternoon and there's lots of queen cells. I want to do AS but how do I find the queen and is there a way of doing it without having to find her.
Checking the diagrams of queen cells they're probably on day 6 or 7.
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gz
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Isn't she a lot bigger?
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Dogwalker
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Oh yes, I know what she looks like and saw her last week when I wasn't really looking for her and I'd forgotton the queen marker pen.
Now I really need to find her I can't again. 
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Tavascarow
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Gently brush all the bees into an empty box fitted with a few empty frames.
Take care not to damage the best queen cells.
Put the vacated brood combs in another box & cover them with a cloth or crownboard whilst working through the rest.
It's not essential to remove all the bees as long as enough are gone so you can check for her maj easier.
If you find her obviously you no longer need to brush bees.
You can either transfer her by hand or put the whole comb she is on in the bottom box, after ensuring there are no queen cells on it.
Put a queen excluder over the bees & the box with the brood frames over that.
Young house/nurse bees will come through the excluder to tend the brood & queen cells.
24 hrs later you can remove the top brood box (queen cells & brood) to a new site any flying bees will return to the old site with the old queen.
Warning Only do this in a warm day to minimise the risk of chilling the brood.
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Dogwalker
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Thank you T
I think I'll have to risk waiting till tomorrow, the rain is being a bit unpredictble today.
Bright sunshine one minute, torrential rain the next and gusty wind.
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mochasidamo
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And if the QCs really were just about to seal then there's a very good chance of the hive swarming at the first good weather...first cell sealed, day 8. So I wouldn't risk it. Once sealed desperate measures are called for. Before that you could have reduced strength by making a nuc say.
Quicker to split the box between two BBs, cover and go for a cup of tea. After 20 mins/half an hour you will know which box the queen is in. Half the frames to go through.
If you still can't find her then spread the frames in pairs through the box and wait a few minutes. Opening each pair in turn she should be between the frames.
If that fails then there's the sieve the whole hive through a QE...I'm putting off doing one of those.....  . Scrubby queen.
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Lorrainelovesplants
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I had the bee inspector in yesterday to do some sampling for a national survey thingy...anyway...the weather has been very windy here, and the colony Id split into 2, with queen cells in each has hatched the virgin queens and these are gone.
It appears that they either have been munched by swallows or died outside hive - no sign of them.
So Ive been looking to requeen - and the price is scary! £35 plus p&p on top.
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Lorrainelovesplants
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success!
Spoke to a very nice chap in Holsworthy who breeds queens.
All is not lost. As I have a 3rd hive with queen and brood, all I have to do is take 2 frames out of this hive with uncapped brood , shake off bees and place one each in queenless hive. Then in 3 days i will either see queen cells or capped brood (which will indicate that I have a virgin queen in there).
And this will give the queenless bees a sense of purpose.
Arnt beekeepers nice people? 
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Dogwalker
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Well this morning I spent a while looking for the queen, couldn't find her, did Tav's split still didn't see her and I'll move the top BB over tomorrow.
The bees started off very calm and quiet by the time I'd fifnished they were more than a little annoyed.
The last frame I brushed off had a sealed queen cell in a crevice the rest weren't sealed.
Not sure if they'd already swarmed the hive was still very full.
Tricksy this beekeeping lark isn't it. 
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Lorrainelovesplants
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There is no brood anywhere....
the new swarm I collectedlast week are hungry so Ive fed them, but no brood, so I went through all 3 hives.
In hive 1 (my original colony) I found 2 frames with capped queen cells, so Ive left one in hive 1 and moved the other to hive 2. Hive 3 will need to be fed for a week I think, then they will make brood I think....
yes, and mine were really pissed at me yesterday...
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oliver90owner
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all I have to do is take 2 frames out of this hive with uncapped brood
Not quite as simplistic as that. The requirement is larvae under the age of 3 days, and preferably eggs on the frame.[/b]
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Lorrainelovesplants
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Im screwed anyway - no brood in any of the 3 hives!
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Midland Spinner
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Sorry to hear that. I don't think I can help because I'm in Nottinghamshire and you are in Cornwall - it's a bit far - but maybe there's a DSer nearby who could supply a frame with some eggs on or a queen cell?
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oliver90owner
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Im screwed anyway
Not really followed the thread but not necessarily so.
Was the swarm a prime or a cast? If a cast, as I suspect, there is plenty of time for that one to come good.
Unfortunately you were either mis-informed or didn't quite understand your beek from Holsworthy (the latter, I suspect).
Seeing capped brood (not necessarily in 3 days, though) would not indicate anything necessarily (choose any alternative from Q+virgin, Q+ mated, Q+ not mated or no queen at all). Getting emergency queen cells is the only positive result of a test frame, meaning Q-.
RAB[/b]
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Lorrainelovesplants
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Ive got a frame in each of the Qless hives with one capped queen cell, so apparently according to my bee mentor of many yearsI need to wait a week or so and see what happens. The weather is due to change Wed, so may see a mating flight.
In the meantime Im feeding the hive with the swarm. It was a really big swarm collected the morning after they swarmed and they have happily settled down. Im feeding them and will check in a few days to see if there is any brood.
Apparently quite a lot of BK's have been caught by the weather this spring.
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oliver90owner
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Apparently quite a lot of BK's have been caught by the weather this spring.
Quite right there. Too much impatience around has caused some of it - no, a lot of it. Yes, I had to A/S a couple of colonies, but my first rearing splits were done just a couple of days, or so, ago. Getting queens properly mated in June, in the UK, can be a lottery - but a lot better chance than in May, that's for sure.
'Really big' is a bit subjective (depends on what you might call 'small' per eg). It could still have a virgin, if it happened to be from a 'clipped queen' colony (not checked for over a fortnight?). I doubt very much that it would have both a laying and a virgin queen. Never seen that although some seem to think it happens (often?).
There should be at least eggs after a week, if a prime with a laying queen. I would expect that, and likely young larvae too.
Regards, RAB[/b]
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Lorrainelovesplants
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The swarm was the size of at least a basketball.
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Dogwalker
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Update on my hives.
Checked today, the AS hive has eggs so the queen must have been hiding in there all along.
The split has 7 sealed queen cells, so hopefully will be OK in a few weeks.
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Lorrainelovesplants
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My swarm has a queen and she has started to lay,so Im happy with this.
My split colony - one hive has a possible virgin - all frames are stuffed with pollen around the outside and polished cells waiting for laying. The other hive has one sealed QC,and again, lots of pollen.
Waiting game....
But, Ive prdered a mated queen just in case...
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Lorrainelovesplants
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That was the most stressful half hour Ive had in a long while!!!
New mated queen arrived in box - easy - take box and place between frames in hive.
Not really....remove sealed queen cell (and frame it is on) put into other hive with sealed queen cell.
Remove plastic cover over fondant closure on queen box...NOT easy with gloves and f***ing loads of bees covering the box and my hands!!!!!
Place in between frames.......cover came off box - PANIC...quickly recover hopefully not allowing resident bee workers in boxand place in palce.
I really need a G&T now.....
and a shower
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mochasidamo
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May have misunderstood but you've added a Queen to a hive with (1) sealed queen cells (2) cover over the fondant removed and (3) to a full hive and not a nuc?
Bees who are making queen cells don't take that kindly to new queens by all accounts (though I haven't tried it).
But keeping the plastic cover or equivalent on for three days or so if trying to introduce to a full hive makes a load of sense before checking the hive for queen cells, and not removing it until the bees have stopped biting the cage and allowing them to eat through the plug and release her.
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Lorrainelovesplants
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Ive removed the sealed queen cells from this hive and placed in the other queenless hive.....
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Lorrainelovesplants
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After a tentative wait........
I inspected.
The hive with the swarm are really quiet - all working away - some stores, (but fed extra anyway as the forecast is crap), with loads of brood, both sealed and unsealed.
First hive (the original colony) - there is a queen here, although i couldnt see her - lots of capped and uncapped brood. Queen cage empty (this is where I put the new queen), lots of stores. Everybody happy.
Second hive - this is the one I left sealed queen cells in....one has obviously hatched and the other cell is still there (which I found odd). There is a queen somewhere as there is brood.
have only given them a brief check today.
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oliver90owner
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the other cell is still there (which I found odd).
How do you find it odd? Killed by the first emerging queen, empty cell, dead pupa (perhaps handled too roughly) are all possibilities.
RAB
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Lorrainelovesplants
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But surely, bees being naturally tidy would have removed this (as they do dead bees) from the hive?
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mochasidamo
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Not if it's empty. If it's gone past its dates just take it off and have a look see. Otherwise unless they're hygienic bees they may well just leave it. Or it may have hatched as well and been resealed (eg. entombed worker).
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