Paul Cronshaw, D.C. wrote:
 
 
> SO naturally I do not want to look thru this hive for a queen.  What is the
> quickest way to flush out a bad queen in a mean hive without pulling apart
> their home?  I think we discussed this topic in a previous thread.
 
I do not recall if this method was discussed the other day or not, but I
will give it a shot anyhow.  I have not tried this, as I have never had
a "mean" hive yet.  I have seen some, but that is another story, and I
surely sympathize with the 20 plus stings per ankle.  I've been there,
but only due to my own foolishness.
 
You can make a nuc with a new queen (on top of, or beside the old hive),
then, after a few days of getting established you can move the old hive
accross the yard.  The older, and presumably more defensive, bees will
then return to the old location.  The hive is then, theoretically,
milder mannered and the old queen can be removed with less pain, and the
workers united with the new hive at the old location.
 
Did that make any sense?  I have tried moving the hive when I waited too
late in the year to take off the honey.  Bees, at least in Alaska, don't
like that much.
 
Wish you well with your problem.
-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
"Test everything.  Hold on to the good."  (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
 
Tom Elliott
Eagle River, Alaska
U.S.A.
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