Hi all
In my 2016 ABJ artlcle "Anarchists in the Hive" I give the following advice

The method for saving a hive with laying works is not new and not difficult. It can be found in the fabulous book by L. E. Snelgrove, “The Introduction of Queen Bees.” He states plainly that it is almost impossible to simply introduce a new queen to “fertile workers,” nor will they likely raise a new queen from brood that is given to them.  

His recommendation is to place frames of unsealed worker brood from another hive into the hive with laying workers. After three days, a good, mated queen is introduced in a cage. This cage should have corks in place, so the bees cannot let her out. After another three days, the queen can be released or the cork pulled so that the hive bees can eat through the candy.  

My only objection to this method is that you haven’t really “saved” a colony, you have simply started a new one amidst the old bees from the failed one. You might be better off to start a new colony on a new stand and forget about the one with laying workers. However, beekeepers like a challenge, and this is one of those topics that comes up again and again.

Snelgrove, L. E. (1940). The introduction of queen bees. London, UK: Purnell and Sons.

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