Great laying queen

[trapperbob]

 Made a small split on the 27th of June with the idea that they would make their own queen or be combined back to the old hive. Well I opened them up yesterday and they have made a queen and she is laying every where she can find a place to lay in I had even placed a couple of frames with foundation in the hive so they would have something to do but when I checked it last week they had done nothing to them. Well yesterday they were working on them and the queen had laid in the new cells and even had laid in the cells that they were still trying to build. The pattern was very good also. Now I guess I wait and see if the new bees will have a good temperment I sure hope so because if she is laying like that in spring they will need to be split into a couple of more hives. It would be a shame to have to dispatch such a prolific queen.

[sarafina]

Sounds like you got yourself an excellent queen!

[luvin honey]

Sounds great! Same thing happening to me :) I removed 3 brood frames from a hive that swarme and 3 from a regular hive. The split and swarmed hive both have queens laying like crazy and only 3 weeks later all 3 have what could be swarm queen cups being built.

Wouldn't it be neat to do splits, as you say, if they make it through winter? Good luck!

[Brian D. Bray]

My test for a good queen, besides temperment of her offspring, is how soon she will lay in comb.  Good Prolific queens will always lay eggs in partially drawn comb provided there is comb being drawn in the brood chamber.

[trapperbob]

Well she is definitly a good layer but the temperment of her offspring are very important to me since they reside on a freinds property and I'm sure a tempermental hive could strain the frendship a little at least his wife might not be to happy and she might strain him a little. :-D Seriously though if there is a spot to lay she's there laying.