Young, adopted, colony perished, 6 weeks after flow frames arrived

If I found swarm cells I would do an artificial swarm/split - that way the old Queen will think she has swarmed and the new Queen that emerges and wins the “Throne” has what she needs to grow, mate and become Queen right.

If all the Virgins kill each other - a possibility or a cast swarm - the remaining bees can be reunited back to the original Queen with the Newspaper method.

Or Newspaper method if the Virgin Queen mates badly and it not laying well or a drone layer

You split the colony as Valli has suggested. There are a few recognised methods.
Swarming is a natural process of reproduction and you will not stop it by giving the bees more room. If your mentor has told you this then you need to change teachers.
Clipping queens is a recognised practice and done properly should not end in supersedure. Many commercial beekeepers do it as it results in longer periods between inspections and NO loss of workforce if the colony swarms. The queen, being unable to fly, will perish and the bees will return to the hive, thereby keeping your workforce intact for the time being.
You may have a mentor but you need some theory behind you to enable you to understand how a colony works.

What I did in that instance is to flood the hive with queens. The rest of the bees in this instance sort it out to one. There is no fighting to the death. Remember, the queen is not in charge of the colony, the workers are and it is they who “make the decisions”

No ,what happened was that your queen did not mate because the weather was bad. Lots of us had failed queens this year. It’s nothing to do with your drones being kicked out (a virgin won’t mate with the drones in her hive, she flies to a drone congregation area away from the one her drones use.

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Queen cells get sealed on day 8/9 (check out the queen rearing calendar) http://www.thebeeyard.org/queen-rearing-calendar/ . This is a great resource.
What were the mite levels when/if tested? http://mainebeekeepers.org/the-bee-line/varroa-destructor-the-pest/
I’m leaning towards mite crash: this is the time of year.

indeed; and a three day old larva is in fact day 6.

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Indeed: Indeed.Indeed (post must be 20 characters)

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The mite levels weren’t tested, unfortunately. Thanks for the links.

That’s because there quite a few ways and they all work…mostly :slight_smile:

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@DextersShed Must explain to the newBees that Stubsy has shaken Nurse bees into the new Hive for the Queen so she has carers for the new brood she will lay and some other workers for forage and guard duty.

The 2 swarm cells (look like peanuts) in the old Hive have Viable Queens being made - Queen cells with Grubs/Larvae in them that have been selected as Queens and only fed Royal Jelly.

These 2 will become the new Virgin Queens the first to emerge will sting the other to death

Maybe.
If the colony is strong the bees may guard the second queen and let the first swarm.
Best leave only the one.
What dexter has done is create a new nucleus with the old queen.
The more common method of artificial swarming is to remove the brood to another site in the apiary and leave the queen in an empty…or with one frame of brood…box on the original site with the flying bees.
Whatever method you choose it’s important to separate the QC/s from the flying bees for it is they who initiate swarming.
There is an even simpler method, involving two manipulations, where you don’t have to find the queen until you have a well depleted box in the second manipulation. Quite a good method for those who find it hard to locate her.
I would like to add that one of the MOST important things a novice must learn is how to spot eggs. If eggs are there, so is the queen.

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In my nearly 28 years of keeping bees I’ve never had bees abscond on me, UNLESS I introduced the colony to a new box with only one frame of brood. They left that one frame of brood & new box for a new location. I think a few drops of lemongrass on the new box helps, also as much of the old hive in the new box as possible. Lid, bottom board, quilt/mat, honey frames. Transferring the colony with all the brood will insure the colony stays. If a colony left an established hive, it’s for a good reason. Do a check on the brood to see what happened there. I believe all the answers will be contained in the state of the brood they left behind.

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