Queen in nuc not laying- ideas?

[beekake]

I over wintered a Polynuc (6 frame) which was good and strong going into winter, but which has dwindled a lot and now has only a handful of bees in to keep the queen company. There is food and pollen in abundance in the three frames that contain stores, while the three others are empty.

The bees are flying from the nuc, but the queen is not yet laying (she's a 2014 queen). Should I just be patient, or is there something I can do to get her going? I'm hoping to use her as a replacement for a 2013 queen who has started to lay patchy drone brood already this year, but don't want to do this until I establish the younger queen is a good un!

 

[Finman]

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Patience does not help. It sounds that the queen has nosema and it is not able to lay. Nosema has dwindled the colony too.

 

[jonnybeegood]

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Patience does not help. It sounds that the queen has nosema and it is not able to lay. Nosema has dwindled the colony too.

How can you say that? it could be many things.

 

[Finman]

How can you say that? it could be many things.

50 years experience.

It can yes, but this is my bet.

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[beekake]

So finman, you think it is hopeless? Or can I use a bit of Thymolated syrup to see if that sorts her/ the colony out?

 

[Dishmop]

It might be that the queen isnt laying because she knows there is not enough food yet to feed the eggs...?

 

[Hivemaker.]

So finman, you think it is hopeless?

If it is nosema ceranae, which it sounds very likely to be, and if the queen is infected, it can cause her ovaries to degenerate and prevent egg laying, in which case it is best to scat them out, and fill the hive with healthy bees after first cleaning the hive. If you introduce an infected queen to another colony, or boost her with more bees, she can also act as a typhoid Mary, infecting those bees as well.

 

[REDWOOD]

I'm with finman, could also be a badly mated queen, I would imagine Suffolk colonies should be fast expanding by now.

 

[beekake]

Yes, the rest of my colonies are growing at a rate of knots! A similar nuc (but jumbo frames) had brood fully across 5 frames last week... Got it into a full hive in the nick of time I reckon!

 

[oliver90owner]

I agree with the others apart from one.

If there are only a handful of bees, there may just be too few for them to be viable and to feed up the queen to lay. A small amount of emerging brood, followed by more, as the numbers increase, would set her going - if she is not nosemic.

Your choice, really. But as said earlier, those bees will not be any use for distribution if they become infected with ceranae.

Thymolated syrup is unlikely to sort out the problem esp. if the queen is infected with either strain of nosema.

 

[drstitson]

as per o2o - likely too few bees to allow HM to lay now. if you can spare it some emerging brood might help but probably best just to accept it as a winter loss.

but as per firman nosema likely the underlying cause.

 

[Nige.Coll]

Got one very similar with nosema.
Queen is trying to lay but seems a pityful effort to survive.
Been spraying them with thymolated syrup but I fear it's too late.
Not a lot can be done without weakening other colonies in a vane attempt to prevent the inevitable.
Time will tell in my case but unless they have a miraculous turn around the are finished.

Despite new comb last year and being fed thymolated syrup in autumn.

 

[Cussword]

A friend of mine has a slightly similar problem. Opened the hive, there were plenty of bees, food, and a beautiful queen. No brood, he believes his queen has gone "off lay". Apart from the obvious, what is that, and is it common?

 

[alldigging]

A friend of mine has a slightly similar problem. Opened the hive, there were plenty of bees, food, and a beautiful queen. No brood, he believes his queen has gone "off lay". Apart from the obvious, what is that, and is it common?

Room to lay?

 

[Cussword]

Duh, he was so concerned about the other hive he'd lost. He/we didn't think of that, with hindsight (a wonderful thing) there wasn't much room in there.
Thanks

 

[oliver90owner]

Cannot understand that. After the winter, there must be some room for some brood, shirley?

Has the colony been treated with thymol recently?

 

[Finman]

A friend of mine has a slightly similar problem. Opened the hive, there were plenty of bees, food, and a beautiful queen. No brood, he believes his queen has gone "off lay". Apart from the obvious, what is that, and is it common?

It is not common, but it happens.

I told here, that I had a huge hive after winter. It had a good amount of brood, because I fed protein patty. Then one day queen stopped laying and brood vanished.

I put another laying queen and it stopped too laying. I gove third queen, and it continued normal laying.

Last spring I had a 4 frame nuc. Its bee number dwinled fast. I put new bees, and they became sick too and dwindled. Again new bees and then I saw that queen was not able lay more than one frame. Then bees start to renew the queen and they had 5 queen cells.

Yes, I have much stories along years, how queen become "lay off" permanently. Its laying is lowered, weak or totally out. And that happens often in hives, which have dysentry.

I do not know any disase in bees, which can be healed with hope or with patience.

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[Cussword]

Cannot understand that. After the winter, there must be some room for some brood, shirley?

Has the colony been treated with thymol recently?

No, none that I could see,and no again. There was loads of Fondant AND syrup on the crown board. I'm answering my own question now, too much food.

Thanks for that Rab. & stop calling me Shirley

It's not my hive, it's the first time I've seen it since last September.

 

[Cussword]

It is not common, but it happens.

I told here, that I had a huge hive after winter. It had a good amount of brood, because I fed protein patty. Then one day queen stopped laying and brood vanished.

I put another laying queen and it stopped too laying. I gove third queen, and it continued normal laying.

Last spring I had a 4 frame nuc. Its bee number dwinled fast. I put new bees, and they became sick too and windled. Again new bees and then I saw that queen was not able lay more than one frame. Then bees start to renew the queen and they had 5 queen cells.

Yes, I have much stories along years, how queen become "lay off" permanently. Its laying is lowered, weak or totally out. And that happens often in hives, which have dysentry.

I do not know any disase in bees, which can be healed with hope or with patience.

.

Thanks Finman
I think Rab has nailed it.