Queen Replacement Angst

Beekeeping - Basics
1

Hive Inspection 20160602

Well, an unhappy second inspection at week four after package installation. Multiple issues encountered. I’ll keep each of these issues in a separate thread for easier future reference and to make it easier for helpful advice givers to respond.

Within my broken comb that resulted from trying to address cross combing and reinsertion of the comb, I spotted 2 or 3 larvae but really could not spot any other in those frames or in the undamaged frames. I could not spot the queen; I don’t know if this was through incompetence or true absence. Do I have a queen or not? Enquiring minds…

If I can’t find a queen, how do I “pinch” her before introducing the replacement. Should I just introduce the newcomer in the prescribed way, then let the workers release her and hope(?) she’s not assassinated?

2

Not seeing the queen is pretty common. It isn’t an indicator that you don’t have a queen necessarily. Was there some other reason you thought you needed to replace her?

3

Almost no brood 4 weeks post package installation.

1 Like
4

Well there you go. Rats.
You can take a look for the queen when you get the replacement. If you find her then you can do the big pinch. If not then install as usual.
Better luck this time around!

5

Are there any eggs? You’ll need to look deeply into the cells with sunlight or a torch, that will tell you if you have a queen.