# Did the right thing?



## BeeButler (Feb 1, 2011)

I have 3 hives at a distant yard (= less than ideal insp schedule). Back in Sept. I noticed that # 3 had very little (all capped) brood and lots of mid-frame queen cups (none closed). This hive is the only one I used Apiguard on, all my others got MAQS treatment in August, and continue to hold their own. And, even after the Apiguard tray was removed, the interior of the hive continued to smell - like Apiguard. In fact, it still does to some extent. The Apiguard was ~3 years old, and may have frozen in the garage, but I was one treatment short on MAQS and figured the old Apiguard would work and it was better off using it vs. trying to dispose of it. 

But back to my question. I had hoped that with drones still around (in Sept), and not knowing how long it had been queenless, this hive had, or would manage to make a new queen. Yesterday I confirmed that this was not so. The hive was probably 40% drones (!?!?!) and maybe 6-7 frames covered with only some capped and mid-stage drone brood. So I took a partially filled super and the top deep, both with 30% honey and put one each on the other 2 hives after scratching the stores - above the inner covers. I left the bottom deep where it was figuring that will dwindle and die before too long then can be stored without worry of wax moths - and all the drones and orphaned workers won't be inclined to go to the two healthy hives and eat up the stores. I'd welcome any comments or woulda-shoulda's from the forum.


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## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

I think you did good.


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## SunnyR2000 (May 9, 2012)

With that many drones (40%), it sounds like you may have a laying worker.


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## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

Laying worker or drone laying queen (a queen that is not properly mated) - either way, I believe BeeButler did the right thing.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Do you have any thoughts to the old Apiguard killing the queen and now these frames are on your other hives?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

BeeButler said:


> The hive was probably 40% drones (!?!?!) and maybe 6-7 frames covered with only some capped and mid-stage drone brood.
> 
> So I took a partially filled super and the top deep, both with 30% honey and put one each on the other 2 hives after scratching the stores - above the inner covers.
> 
> I left the bottom deep where it was figuring that will dwindle and die before too long then can be stored without worry of wax moths - and all the drones and orphaned workers won't be inclined to go to the two healthy hives and eat up the stores. I'd welcome any comments or woulda-shoulda's from the forum.


Sounds like a drone layer to me. Too late to do anything about that. But, as you did, you can use what you have in a positive manner.

I would have harvested what honey I wanted and set the other boxes on another hive. I would not have scratched honey comb and would not have placed it above an inner cover.

Even if the deep you left in place is completely robbed out, pollen will still be in those combs and wax moth will still have something to eat. So store it in a manner which wax moth will not find appealing.

Those left over drones and workers could have been combined w/ another hive. To no detriment. But you didn't do wrong doing what you did.


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