Queenless, no brood, no eggs hive however bee numbers remain the same

1

Hi. Would really like people’s thoughts and ideas.
I have a hive that for the last 3 months has no eggs, or brood. I have not seen the queen during multiple inspections during this time. I am sooo puzzled the bee numbers Have increased a little. I have fluffy new bees. Where have the come from???

They are bringing in pollen and honey/nectar. I have a swam I caught from one of my other hives and I have thought of adding this to hive.

It is difficult to get a queen here in Southern Western Australia.

Has this happened to anyone?

What to do?

2

If the bees care capping worker sized comb then you have a laying queen, If however the colony is becoming all drones then you have laying worker is the hive. You can’t have an increase in bees without eggs being laid. If the new fluffy bees are worker then you have a queen rite hive.
There is a big shortage of queens in Queensland this Spring.
Cheers

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3

Totally agree with you. The bees are worker bees not drones. There is absolutely no capped brood, eggs or grubs. I’m so puzzled.

I’m beginning to wonder if they are from one of my other hives? Not sure if that is possible.

4

You can have bee drift between hives but they tend to be foraging bees that are welcomed into a hive they don’t belong to if they are bringing in nectar or pollen.
If the hive doesn’t have any brood then I would advise adding a frame of eggs to it so the bees can make a new queen and the rest of the frame can add to the strength of the colony which must be becoming weak in bees.