# Can my hive survive through winter without a queen?



## jcolon (Sep 12, 2014)

Wait for the new queen and feed.


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## Steven T Ruddy (Mar 12, 2013)

jcolon said:


> Wait for the new queen and feed.


OK When should I check again? I'm a little worried nothing will happen. The caps looks awfull dark brown. Also what if she doesn't hatch?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Any pics?

How many frames were the bees covering?


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## jcolon (Sep 12, 2014)

All you can do is wait right now and cross your fingers. If there's a viable queen and drones out there, nature will take its course. Pics will help.


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## Steven T Ruddy (Mar 12, 2013)

jwcarlson said:


> Any pics?
> 
> How many frames were the bees covering?


I would say maybe 3 frames worth, max ,could be covered if all that were at home and were put together. None of the frames were completely covered. I'll get pics tomorrow. thx


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## Steven T Ruddy (Mar 12, 2013)

jcolon said:


> All you can do is wait right now and cross your fingers. If there's a viable queen and drones out there, nature will take its course. Pics will help.


 I need to figure out how to re queen in the future. Seems like queens are not available when you need one.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

is this your only hive steven? if not it sounds like a good candidate for a combine with another one.


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## DirtyLittleSecret (Sep 10, 2014)

Steven-
Where abouts you located? Getting real late in the season for a new queen to get bred. We don't have any drones around here. All have been kicked out. Sounds like you have a weak hive which is concerning. If you have another hive I'd seriously be thinking about combining with another.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

A nuc hive or two is ALWAYS a good idea to have in the bee yard to pull resources from.


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## Steven T Ruddy (Mar 12, 2013)

DirtyLittleSecret said:


> Steven-
> Where abouts you located? Getting real late in the season for a new queen to get bred. We don't have any drones around here. All have been kicked out. Sounds like you have a weak hive which is concerning. If you have another hive I'd seriously be thinking about combining with another.


I'm in Guerneville CA. I don't have another hive. I tried to split this one last year and it didn't work. By the time I got a laying queen established they never laid any comb. The colony got nice size at one point as all frames in the super were full with bees but then the population started to decline for no known reason. Then they died in the winter. I gave up on trying another split. I guess I should just start another colony. I didn't notice any drones in my hive and am wondering if the capped brood and queen cells will even hatch. Kinda feels like my unsuccessful split which when inspected after death still had a few capped cells.


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## exmar (Apr 30, 2015)

IMHO, I'd feed them. Admittedly the cards seem stacked against you, but 2:1 is cheap to make and good things may happen, pollen patties would also be a good idea. I've learned that the more I learn and do to help my bees, they seem to thrive in spite of it.  Sounds like you're learning and hanging in there, the two biggest requirements for a beek.

Good luck,
Ev


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Just because there are no drones in the hive doesn't mean there are no drones in the local area. A virgin queen won't mate with drones from her hive anyway. There may be lots of drones a half mile away. It's surprising what can happen when all looks lost.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Given the current state of the hive, I would try to find them a mated queen now.
Go through this site to see if you can locate one at http://vpqueenbees.com/purchase/production-queens
When all else fail try ebay.
Without a laying queen this hive cannot survive our long mild winter here. They will develop the LWs too.
Yes, they can be saved if you can find them a laying queen. Then give them the patty sub. and Lauri's sugar bricks.
Without the drones and facing a very late Autumn, it is harder to get the virgin to mate even when one hatched. My concern is
whether or not she will be able to store enough sperms to not turn into a drone layer queen later on.


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## Steven T Ruddy (Mar 12, 2013)

I was amazed when I saw bees coming and going a few weeks ago. We are having a heat wave so I decided to see what is going on in the hive yesterday. Well the workers already have pollen and honey collected and even a small amount of capped honey already. There are no eggs, and no queen. I was expecting to find a perished hive this spring as it was late October when the hive had no eggs or larvae and I took all the honey except a frame or two. I wonder how much life these workers have left and if there is anyway to get a queen now. I contacted the store where I purchased the package and they said no bees until Late April. I'm afraid after all this they will be dead by then.


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## DavidP (May 27, 2009)

http://www.ohbees.com/BIQ.php

I would check with these guys and see if they have queens available


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