Walter,
Sounds like you have ruled out the odd problems Walter. Genetic problems
with those queens could be the source of the problem.

I will add the opinion of  a beekeeper friend which runs around 1600 hives
in another country.

Below is the information he sent me:

This phenomen is not terrible unusual over here, particularly with bought
queens. No go in the bees , and not even a willingness to take syrup. We
regard it as a symptom of serious paralysis virus (of which there is more
than one kind), usually in the company of tracheal mites. The condition is
invariably terminal and requeening is not often a success as all the bees
tasked with raising brood are not able to work effectively on doing so. Best
option is to give up on it and work with better stock next time around.

 If determined to persever then it is best to requeen by insertion of a
queenright nuc .

The second possiblity is nosema , which can cause similar situations
through the not taking syrup would not be so pronounced



Bob

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