In a message dated 5/5/98 11:14:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
 
<< Any suggestions on laying workers?  One of my hives may have this
 problem.  I cannot find a queen but I have eggs, and some drones in worker
 cells.  The XYZ-s' book suggests destroying the bees and starting over, but
 this seems rather drastic!  Doug Brown >>
 
    If it is a failing queen, it will usually have one or two eggs at the
bottom of each cell, some of which develop into small drones. If it is laying
workers, there may be many eggs, attatched about half way down on the sides of
the cells.
 
   It is tricky to requeen these, especially with laying workers. If they
haven't gone downhill too far, I'd give them a couple frames of brood from a
good hive, making sure there are eggs in some cells. They will most likely
raise a queen.
 
    If they have dwindled down a lot, or the bees are old, greasy looking
bees, just set the hive on top of a good one, as a super.  I have also
sometimes set a good nuc in the place of it, changing them from a 4 or 5 frame
box into a ten frame. Then I carry the hive twenty or thirty feet away, and
shake the bees onto the ground. Most of them will fly back and join with the
nuc. Reputedly the laying workers will not. At any rate they are unlikely to
hurt the queen in the nuc.
 
[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
 
Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm