BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • trouble at mill

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #4162  by Alfred
 19 Jul 2019, 14:08
Neither of my nucs are laying.
I did think one had lost her queen and wasn't as active as the newer one,but I saw her today.They weren't agressive and seem well populated.
I've stopped feeding a week ago as there's a flow on and I want to make sure they both have laying room.Theres stores and what looks like freshly capped brood but no larvae or eggs.
The old comb frames aren't being polished but the one sheet of foundation in each has been drawn with worker cell.
This is mirroring what's going on in the apiary so it must be me?
That said,the nest I cut out on Tuesday didn't have eggs either.
 #4200  by Chrisbarlow
 22 Jul 2019, 12:36
Stick a frame of eggs in as a litmous test if your unsure if there is a queen in there. Queen cells tomorrow means no queen. No queen cells means a queen is in there in some form
 #4201  by AdamD
 22 Jul 2019, 13:09
With your nucs, when did the queen emerge from her queencell? She will not go out to mate for the first 4 - 6 days (but can fly in a swarm before that) and she will only go on her nuptual flights when the weather is warm enough (say 18 - 20 degrees). It takes 2 days minimum for her to start laying (in a small colony) but is usually more.
 #4206  by Alfred
 22 Jul 2019, 14:50
Thanks guys
I've got no eggs to put in!!
The queens in both were obtained through an online breeder.
All queens in every hive are off lay.
They all have room to lay but no one is polishing.
The one hive at the apiary that swarmed is throwing up QCs but none of the others so Im leaving them to their own devices.
I'm just a bit put out the saviour nucs are also playing up
Edit
I've had a look this afternoon and one is laying again
There was old comb put in as I took these frames from the nuc I bought earlier in the year so God knows how old it is.
They've drawn a bit on a starter strip and have not touched the one old comb(it's dry a a bone).The other old comb is also barren save for brace comb filled with stores.
The other nuc hasn't resumed laying .
They won't touch the old stuff either but have built an elephants ear parallel to the comb and there's sealed brood in that.
I've taken one dry comb out of each and given them a replacement brand new frame and starter strip.
Looks as though I will have to quickly and slowly go through all the other hives as well.