Hello Dennis,

Requeening this time of year is tricky. You did not say if you did
this on a nectar flow or, if there is no flow, did you provide one
via 1:1 syrup feed?

The invading colony goes on top. That is the best way to think of it
rather than older or youger. In the Fall, (august), the best way to
requeen is via a nuc like you did. In a planned scenario, it is best
to aquire the new queen early, like a month early. Then kill the old
queen leave this hive queenless for at least 24 hours.

Meanwhile back at the nuc.

Re cage the new queen, jam up the end of the cage with candy.
(I have been eager to try the thin style intro cage which gives
the queen more access to more bees. Try this if you like.
This makes more sense in the Fall when requeening is difficult than in the Spring when almost anything goes.)

Place the queen back inside the nuc, feed the old colony on the bottom.
Place the nuc on top with as sheet of slit news paper between them.
You have done all you can at this point. Keep the feed going for 10 days.

I will be combining hives this week. I will use the re caging technique,
along with feeding. There is realy no difference in using an nuc or
combining the colonies.

BTW the longer the bees remain queenless, the harder it will be to
give them one. There comes a time when you must decide to distribute
the assets of the queenless hive to the nuc, or other hives. If you have
only one or two hives, then by all means re cage the queen and distribute
the honey, and pollen to them. With no brood in it, I believe that time is now.

After distributing the goodies, take the old body away. The field bees
will find themselves a new home, and with the queens being caged, they
will not kill them. In a few days the queens will be released by the bees
and you will have saved what you could.

There is no reason to take anything but a robust hive into winter.

Grist Mill Apiary

Ernie Gregoire

Canaan, NH. USA


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08/09/99 10:07:54