The main thing though is that you’re happy
Why should I take out a young, freshly mated, laying queen? I bought those queens to save the hive in case they didn’t have one, because I broke all queen cells in my foolishness. Not because I was unsatisfied with the existing queen. I’ll wait and see now.
LOL!
My point was that you don’t know you have a good queen until you see capped brood, in a tight pattern, that she is responsible. Sorry for the confusion.
I DO know that! But that was NOT the point of this topic nor of any of my comments.
They’re gone. 75€ just like that… Well…
I took a short glimpse into my two-apartment-bee-home to take the cages out and look for the ladies. A mated queen with a bright white mark on her back should be easy to spot even for a beginner. And she shouldn’t be too hard to find in a two frame split. But nothing there, also no eggs. I guess I just didn’t have enough time between setup of the splits and introduction of the queens. Thank you, dear breeder, for informing me one day AFTER shipment of the queens!
So what now, do I put those 4 frames with the bees back to their mother hive, or do I try to make a hive out of them by combining the 4 frames and giving them a brood frame with fresh eggs and young larvae?
Either should work fine. I don’t know your nectar flow where you are. If you are in a good lasting flow you could do the split and they’d have plenty of time to build up enough to have a good chance of over-wintering. I’m in New Jersey, USA and will split in mid-late July and usually have good success.
Ok, I looked into the splits this morning and found a queen cell in one. With a tiny larva in it swimming happily in her yummy pool. So I decided to put the two frames of the other split into this one and now I try to leave it alone for four weeks. Who helps me hold my hands in my pockets?
The breeder answered to my complaint mail about not sending a shipment note BEFORE shipment, so the buyer could prepare. He didn’t even react on that topic, just asked why I didn’t contact him at once (on saturday? Funny…) before putting the queens in. He said that I could have left the queens in the unopened cage for several days and that the bees would feed her in the cage. Do they, if they don’t want her?
Ok, he offered me a small discount on mated queens for the next order, but honestly I don’t want to buy more queens…
it’s really hard to leave them alone… i hate that part lol. I’m sure a tiny peek wont hurt every now and then lol.
You know what keeps me from tinkering too much? First of all, every time anyone opens the hive, it sets the bees back couple of days. Plus every inspection risks rolling or killing the queen, and if that happens, I have to requeen. There are so many africanized bees in my area, I can’t risk a naturally-mated queen in an urban setting. That is enough incentive for me to plan my inspections carefully, and not do anything unnecessary.
They will feed her through the cage. I have hives here that I’ve discovered 2 queens running around; they’ve just managed to stay clear of one another I suppose.
As long as you have several strong, queen-right hives, you shouldn’t have to buy queens. I started with 2 nucs, one was queenless when I got it. I turned those two nucs into 50+ hives in 5 years without buying a single queen.
That problem doesn’t exist around here - and I hope there’s nobody foolish enough to help those creatures cross the ocean… But I will try relying on my homegrown queens and see what happens. They get “fresh blood” in themselves by making long trips for mating, right?
I was wondering if theres anything like our german Belegstelle in other countries. That’s an area where only tested and qualified pure-bred hives are allowed and you can bring your virgin queens to mate with those “thoroughbred” drones for a fee. I guess it can’t be a pure german invention/institution, but I haven’t heard/read a word for this in english.
Errmmm, which ocean? They began in Africa. All they have to do is fly up through Africa, into north Africa, Egypt, Israel, Syria, Turkey and then into Europe… No oceans to cross!
Naaaa. Some very clever guy brought african bees to brazil to breed with the brazilian bees for better honey harvest. That’s what turned out so aggressive.
Hmmm, I wouldn’t get too complacent…
"Overwintering of Africanized, European and Hybrid Honey Bees in Germany…
Waaaaaaah!!! Don’t do that to my poor nerves!!!
Now it THAT a queen or WHAT?!?

Of course the lady, who has hidden successfully during every single inspection, showed up NOW that I didn’t have my marking plates at hand… Good thing is, that my mother spotted her, who wasn’t able to identify a queen before unless she was shoved into her face…
Is she young? She looks small. They usually fatten up after laying awhile.
You like to annoy people, right? She’s the largest queen I ever had before my eyes… Yes, She’s only a couple of months old.
Just an observation is all: she’ll grow into a nice fatty