On 20 Jul 97 at 20:25, Lawrence Cooke wrote:
 
> Thursday evening I found one of my Queens outside the hive. She was
> missing a wing and walking funny. I put her in a jar for study
> later..I looked in the hive and found an freshly opened Queen cell.
> So I closed it up..Today I took out  frames to look of eggs and
> found no eggs AND no brood from old Queen.This is one of my 3 pound
> that I started two months ago.It had brood!! What to do? I am
> concerned that I might have a laying worker soon. Lawrence Cooke:
> Dolores Colorado..
>
Sounds like the results of a 'Battle Royal'. Possibly the work of the
newly emerged virgin or even the bees themselves, as they will not
tolerate a poor queen. Without a lot more information as to the state
of the hive before this was discovered it is difficult diagnosing
from a distance.
        One way to discover what is happening is to use the added brood
technique. A frame of eggs from another hive will soon give you an
answer. If the make cells they are queenless, if they cap over as
usual, then you have a virgin waiting to lay.
 
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The Bee Works, 9 Progress Dr, Unit 2,
Orillia, Ontario, L3V 6H1
Phone/fax  705-326-7171
David Eyre, Owner.
http://www.muskoka.net/~beeworks
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