Tom,
    Why not requeen this hive by making a nuc over with sealed brood from
below?  Wear double thickness clothing and gloves if needed.  Give them the
mint syrup spray and plenty!  Shake off bees off brood so as not to need
find the queen.  Pick lots of sealed brood, then smoke lots of bees up
through an excluder with a screen on top.  When bees cover top bars, spray
bees through screen, and put screen under box, using a rear entrance.
Introduce a nice Carniolan queen, forget the midnites!  Feed the nuc to
assure acceptance.  After 2 weeks, turn the top unit around.  Feed heavily!
During the winter, the bees will drift up from below and abandon the old
bitch!
    Come spring, they'll be gentle as kittens, with a faster buildup and
more production than Midnites.
Charles Andros
Linden Apiaries/Boulder Wall Gardens
1 McLean Road
Walpole, NH
03608-0165
603-756-9056