I got a queen question for you. (need advice)

[Myron Rotruck]

I got a swarm out from a old dead tree. I somehow killed the queen in the transfer. I ordered a queen which was not marked or clipped, in a week or two I went in to see if she was out of her cage. She was, I seen her fly off of the frame she was on never to return, with alot of my worker bees. I still had a small swarm, so this time I ordered a queen that was marked and clipped. I checked in a week to see if she was doing ok, and she was, I check again in about three weeks later, and see was laying eggs that's been a month or so back. I thought I would look back in yesterday evening to see how things were going. I could not find the marked queen, so this morning while I had better light, I went back to see if I could find her. I did not find her but a different queen, I am positive it was a new queen, no dought. My concern is this, out of all the times that I've been dealing with this swarm I have never seen a drone in this hive, and this is the only hive I have. I am not seeing any new queen productivity at all. If a swarm does not have any drones what can the queen do to become fertile? Should I requeen again? to make sure I have a fertile queen? Also one other question. What made this swarm replace this new marked, clipped queen which was working, so quick? do you think maybe the bees seen her as inferior since she was clipped, and they needed to replace her with a queen that could fly. Need some advice since this new queen is not laying at all.

[Finsky]

I have clipped queens 35 years.

during many winter I lost queens. Then I read Australian report that 20% of colonies do not like clipping and they renew the queen. So I started clip queens before swarming season in late spring. My winter lost stopped.

Now after years I can find that bees are eager to renew my 1 year old queens, and I think that clipping is the reason.  This year over half of my queens are renevew.

It may be too, that new queen get  nosema and bees renew it.

Uou have new queen and at the age of 10 days it lay eggs.

Queen flies a couple of miles that it avoid copulating with it's brothers.
It copulates about with 16 drones and surely you have grones there. It is tight hapitated country.

[Michael Bush]

>My concern is this, out of all the times that I've been dealing with this swarm I have never seen a drone in this hive, and this is the only hive I have.

Irelevant.  As Finsky pointed out, she's not looking to mate with a drone from her hive anyway.

>I am not seeing any new queen productivity at all.

How old is this queen?  It's 28 days from an egg to a laying queen.  If she emerged yesterday I wouldn't be suprised to not see any eggs for two more weeks.  By the time she is laying every bit of brood will have emerged and there will be no capped brood or eggs left in the hive.

> If a swarm does not have any drones what can the queen do to become fertile?

What she always does.  Fly to a DCA several miles away.

>Should I requeen again?

Wait two weeks.   If she's not laying in two weeks she will be a drone layer.

>To make sure I have a fertile queen?

You may only disrupt things more by buying another queen.

>Also one other question. What made this swarm replace this new marked, clipped queen which was working, so quick?

Who knows what bees are thinking.  Maybe she didn't make enough QMP.  Maybe she wasn't laying well enough.

> do you think maybe the bees seen her as inferior since she was clipped

I've heard people say this.  I never clipped enough of them to have an opinion on it but I do clip some of my breeder queens so they wont' swarm and so I can recognize them.  I haven't seen them superceded yet.

> and they needed to replace her with a queen that could fly.

Maybe, but I doubt it.

>Need some advice since this new queen is not laying at all.

Wait.  If she's not laying in two weeks, then worry about it.  My bet is she'll be laying before then.