If you are going to dispose of one queen, do the unite immediately on removing herand do you need to wait until the q- colony is hopelessly queenless or can you unite as soon as you make them queenless?
Would there be queen cells to deal with or do they break through the newspaper before the bees have time to make them?If you are going to dispose of one queen, do the unite immediately on removing her
they'll have broken throughWould there be queen cells to deal with or do they break through the newspaper before the bees have time to make them?
I did this last week with a Q+ nuc adding to a very large Q- colony. The Q- colony had been Q- for 5 days, they had 1 queen cell remaining.Is it possible to unite a large queenless colony with a very small queen right one? For example a full q- bb with a small q+ colony that’s on say 3 frames…
And vice versa?
Don't be too hasty, another couple of weeks you could see eggs in there. I usually start to consider failure after six weeks but I got caught out this year and found eggs after seven weeks.I'm considering doing this but the queenless colony has been without a queen for at least 3 or 4 weeks. (they failed to create a new queen from a capped cell) Is it too late to unite them.? Also, they have been busy making honey and now have 5 supers! Should I reduce the number of supers before uniting, and what in order should I put the supers? I don't really want to shake them out as there are still thousands of quite feisty bees and my other 2 hives are likely to be overwhelmed.
No need to faff and fiddle about, just put the Q+ donor colony on top of the whole setup, ie Q- colony, QX, supers, newspaper,QX, Q+ colony. If the Q+ colony has any supers, then they go right on top.Should I reduce the number of supers before uniting, and what in order should I put the supers
Bit of an old thread but this is what I am looking to do next weekend. I’ve got a very defensive double brood in a suburban setting with three supers. On top is another brood box on a solid floor with a new queen that is now laying. Reason it’s sitting on top is that it was part of a Demaree I was doing. If I kill the queen at the bottom and then unite with the new queen on top above the supers, won’t there be a lack of pheromone leading to QCs at the bottom? The last thing I want to do is to have to shake bees off all the frames to remove any QCs. Could I unite with the new queen brood box sitting between the bottom brood boxes and the supers?No need to faff and fiddle about, just put the Q+ donor colony on top of the whole setup, ie Q- colony, QX, supers, newspaper,QX, Q+ colony. If the Q+ colony has any supers, then they go right on top.
As to them making queen cells, not necessarily, in my experience, but I'd look to reduce the size of the whole set up. If you going to find the queen in the bottom colony, perhaps use the opportunity to condense the brood as much as possible there? How many frames are your boxes and would you expect to be able to get the brood into a single box?Bit of an old thread but this is what I am looking to do next weekend. I’ve got a very defensive double brood in a suburban setting with three supers. On top is another brood box on a solid floor with a new queen that is now laying. Reason it’s sitting on top is that it was part of a Demaree I was doing. If I kill the queen at the bottom and then unite with the new queen on top above the supers, won’t there be a lack of pheromone leading to QCs at the bottom? The last thing I want to do is to have to shake bees off all the frames to remove any QCs. Could I unite with the new queen brood box sitting between the bottom brood boxes and the supers?
It could depend on how you combine too. Prior to killing the queen below and before a single sheet newspaper combine, I'd put a double screen between them for a while.Bit of an old thread but this is what I am looking to do next weekend. I’ve got a very defensive double brood in a suburban setting with three supers. On top is another brood box on a solid floor with a new queen that is now laying. Reason it’s sitting on top is that it was part of a Demaree I was doing. If I kill the queen at the bottom and then unite with the new queen on top above the supers, won’t there be a lack of pheromone leading to QCs at the bottom? The last thing I want to do is to have to shake bees off all the frames to remove any QCs. Could I unite with the new queen brood box sitting between the bottom brood boxes and the supers?
Maybe a single screen would be better? Stop fighting but let trophylaxis and colony scent mix.It could depend on how you combine too. Prior to killing the queen below and before a single sheet newspaper combine, I'd put a double screen between them for a while.
Yes, it should work.Maybe a single screen would be better? Stop fighting but let trophylaxis and colony scent mix.
I see.Thank you for the advice. @Antipodes Condensing the bottom two brood boxes is not really feasible as there's 22 frames with about 16 frames of brood. I like the idea of having a mesh screen for a bit and then unite using newspaper. I assume this is all with the brood box with the new queen sitting on top of the 3 supers. After uniting, how long would you leave it before moving the brood box from the top to be directly on top of the other two brood boxes? The plan once things had settled would be to stick a queen excluder below the top brood box (after making sure the queen is not in there) and letting them fill it with honey and so I'm not on triple brood. The frames in that box are all fairly new.
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