Hi. This has been interesting… we’ve had a bit of a time with things. We managed to avert a slime out from hive beetle by cutting out the affected areas of the frames. It left us with no brood but after leaving the bees to their business, they’ve created new comb that’s clean, but without brood. There are two queen cells that are still capped at the bottom of one of the frames. I’m unsure whether to leave them or add a mated queen. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
I’m just wondering if those queen cells are emergency queen cells. Timing is everything. How long since you were last in the hive? A photo would be handy. How strong is the population? When you say “It left us with no brood”, what about eggs? Are the queen cells on a frame that could have had eggs left after you cut out the affected area?
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Hey Andrew,
It’s not a good time for producing queens. Since Varroa wiped out the feral colonies and many poorly managed colonies, drone numbers have been way below optimal. In Autumn, even less.
If you’re sure they’re queenless, see if you can find a mated queen ASAP. Hornsby might still have some QLD queens. Better still, see if anyone in the club has a small queen right colony you could merge with yours. That gives you the best chance to make it through winter.
Mike
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I’ll assume they’re emergency queen cells. The population appears to be strong, they’re active and have created a lot of honeycomb that’s yet to be filled. No photos, I’m afraid. I was pretty mindful that to be in and out quickly. Thanks for your reply.
Thanks Mike, good advice.