# New Split and queenless worker hive.



## e2_sla (Apr 28, 2014)

I purchased a new queen from Lauri Miller in Roy WA and excited to have one of her queens in my bee yard.

I had a hive that went queenless, not sure why, and business/family kept me from dealing with that hive several weeks ago as I should have done. I purchased a queen from Lauri to install into this hive but upon looking it over today, I have laying workers and several drone brood larvae I assume, and several, 40 or so mayb capped drone brood. So I decided to take three frames from my three deep strong hive and create my first split. I added already extruded fames empty to sides, and then two full framesof capped brood with some larvae, could not find a queen at all on the frames just workers so I hope there is no queen...

I then added a third frame of capped honey adjacent to the two frames of brood, and mashed the queen cave into the edge of the capped honey frame adjacent to a capped drone frame. 

So we shall see how things go. She is marked so should be easy to find if the takes and no issues from the workers that I have moved over. doing during middle of the hot sunny day so should have mostly workers on the frames, with most foragers out and about. ANy foragers from old hive should fly back to old hive.

I added internal feeder with syrup, and there was also pollen on the frames with some honey on edges and top of brood frame.

Now for queenless laying worker hive. I was thinking I might take a frame of brood/larvae/eggs and install and see if they will make their own queen cell? That means a month, but that likely will result in this hive not making it. I do no believe enough workers to make that long of a make queen/fly and mate/lay new brood and hatch.. That is at least six week cycle, with exception of new brood/larvae/eggs in existing frame that I move over...

Thoughts on this anyone?


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

You did what I would have done in that case. When the new split is up and running with nice amounts of new eggs and larvae, shake out the queenless hive some distance away and move the new split to the old location, and put the now empty frames in the new hive. The bees will return to the new hive and beg in -- the bees will not allow the laying workers entry. 

I had a hive that was making minimal amounts of drone brood and they suffered a couple big robbing attacks, so I closed them up for a few days and bought queens. They took a new queen very nicely with no other manipulations, so either the robbing did the laying workers in or a I had a bunk drone layer that got killed off. I reduced them down to a nuc, there weren't many bees left -- should have requeened in June when the failed to make one. Anyway, I'll give them a frame or two of brood from the thriving hive this week sometime once they have a nice amount of brood going and build them back up for winter.

I had a full medium of capped honey that I moved over to the other hive, but forgot to shake out the bees first, reducing the number in the queenless hive, so I moved them to a nuc box until they get going again. I hope to get them up to a full deep before September so I can feed them back up properly and move the honey back over.

I would have just given them a frame of eggs and young brood, but my other other working hive at the time decided to supercede their queen at the same time -- I heard queens piping just when I wanted to move the eggs over, so had to wait.

Peter


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