# Queen loss 2 years in a row from same hive box



## tarpaigh1 (Mar 3, 2013)

I have lost 2 queens early summer from the same beehive equipment 2 years in a row. I tried supporting it with frames of brood both years but never had a new queen raised. I have never noticed any signs of disease and have not been treating. I am a newbie so i am sure i am making a lots of mistakes. Now I have a laying worker in this hive with only a few bees. Should these boxes be placed on strong hives or could this transmit disease to those hives? Any help is appreciated.


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## iahawk (May 19, 2009)

Tar, seems like there are a lot of variables involved, and several questions given the information you've provided. I'll throw a few out--forgive me if some of them seem obvious. First, what was the source of the queens? If a professional business, have you contacted them to see if others have experienced problems with their queens? Did you introduce the queen this year to a split, to the remaining bees from last season or did she come in a nuc or package? How many bees were present when you introduced her, if that is what you did? Were there enough to have a possibility of success (adequate nurse bees, workers, etc.) When did you introduce the queen? Did you monitor the progress of the hive after the queen was introduced to see if, after a couple weeks, she had a good laying pattern going? Did you have drawn comb in the hive or foundation? What was the weather like in the month after she was introduced? Did you feed the bees initially (or continually if you have had a dearth of rainfall/flowering plants)? How do you know the queen failed/fled/died early summer? What have you done in the meantime, since it is now late summer? What is your evidence of laying workers? You mention not seeing signs of disease; what is the mite situation? Do you have other hives in the vicinity and, if so, what is their status? Do you know of others in the area having any similar problems?
Sorry I can't offer much in the way of suggestion at this time--I think more info is needed. I'd be reluctant to combine the bees at this point in time. You said "few bees"--how many is "few"? If you have a local or area beekeeping association, you should contact them and see what information/mentoring they might be able to provide.


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## tarpaigh1 (Mar 3, 2013)

iahawk said:


> Tar, seems like there are a lot of variables involved, and several questions given the information you've provided. I'll throw a few out--forgive me if some of them seem obvious. First, what was the source of the queens? If a professional business, have you contacted them to see if others have experienced problems with their queens? Did you introduce the queen this year to a split, to the remaining bees from last season or did she come in a nuc or package? How many bees were present when you introduced her, if that is what you did? Were there enough to have a possibility of success (adequate nurse bees, workers, etc.) When did you introduce the queen? Did you monitor the progress of the hive after the queen was introduced to see if, after a couple weeks, she had a good laying pattern going? Did you have drawn comb in the hive or foundation? What was the weather like in the month after she was introduced? Did you feed the bees initially (or continually if you have had a dearth of rainfall/flowering plants)? How do you know the queen failed/fled/died early summer? What have you done in the meantime, since it is now late summer? What is your evidence of laying workers? You mention not seeing signs of disease; what is the mite situation? Do you have other hives in the vicinity and, if so, what is their status? Do you know of others in the area having any similar problems?
> Sorry I can't offer much in the way of suggestion at this time--I think more info is needed. I'd be reluctant to combine the bees at this point in time. You said "few bees"--how many is "few"? If you have a local or area beekeeping association, you should contact them and see what information/mentoring they might be able to provide.


Both times i purchased packages with russian queens that seemed to be doing okay at the beginning. I installed the packages in April into 8 frame medium super hives with screened bottom boards. Noticed normal hive activity and egg pattern that suggested the queen was alive. I am not good at finding a queen in a busy hive. I have fed for at least the first month with sugar syrup. I have used a combination of foundationless frames and drawn comb. At the present time, I have a hive with scattered brood about 10 per frame and complete dearth of bees. I have taken frames of brood from nearby hives in hopes a queen would be raised but to no avail. My other hives seem to be doing okay. I am about to put a 5th medium super on.


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## iahawk (May 19, 2009)

I think, given you have so few bees, it probably isn't worth the risk of introducing disease into a good hive and it may be best to just let them go. I'm wondering if there is something about the location? Is it different from where your other hives are located? Is some form of chemical from the environment affecting this hive? Do the remaining bees look healthy, or do they exhibit anything like deformed wing virus? I also wonder if perhaps your hive swarmed and they were unsuccessful in rearing a new queen? Did you ever see swarm or supercedure cells? The scattered brood you mentioned, are they drone cells? With laying workers you would only have drones. You also would see eggs, though they often are poorly placed in the cells and/or there may be multiple eggs in a cell. 
I don't know--it certainly does seem a puzzle. If toxins were introduced into the hive the first year, there may have been enough residual chemical that it slowly killed off this hive as well. I know equipment is expensive, but I'd be reluctant to use it again. Disease is very difficult to remove from wooden boxes and frames, and I suspect chemical contamination would be as difficult.


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