Understanding / Fixing A Laying Worker Colony (Drone Layers)

A laying worker hive is a colony that only produces drones. These colonies are doomed if not corrected in a timely manner. In this video, I discuss what a laying worker colony is and how to fix it. A laying worker colony is something all beekeepers must learn to deal with and if you raise queens, it happens more than we like.
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[@beebob1279]

I've been around bees for over 20 years. I was told so many times that you can't fix a laying worker hive. Don't waste your time. I try to keep an open mind. Im glad to see you've successfully demonstrated 'fixing' a laying worker hive.

[@JCsBees]

Anything is possible if you keep at it! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@brianhenry4362]

Thanks for sharing with new beekeepers! I was ready to shake the bees out of a working layer colony after looking for a solution without any luck until I saw your video. I did as you instructed on this video ( I used a mated queen) and I checked the hive after 5 days and so far so good. I saw the queen walking amongst the rest of the bees!

[@JCsBees]

I'm glad it's working for you. Thanks for letting me know it works with a mated queen, I have yet to try one but figured it would work. Best of luck with your bees!

[@videogenie1236]

Hi Jason I am not a beekeeper. but I am interested in learning. I have learnt a few useful tips from this video. So I just wanted to say thank you.

[@JCsBees]

Glad it was helpful!

[@vinofarm]

I wish I had seen this about 2 months ago. Nice job.

[@billiamc1969]

Vino Farm kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGiXp4WKZd-SaLc ....simpler version I posted a couple weeks ago

[@JCsBees]

The sad part is the video has been ready to upload for 2 months I've just been too busy. Sorry but at least now you know. Best of luck!

[@welchkoservices4200]

Yeah, I was following your progress on yours as well.

[@0naallan429]

Vinofarm I just copied link and was going to post on your channel. Good to see you. Glad you watched this.

[@Kakashi713]

Haha definitely would have saved you from another queen, cursed nucs, and 3 months of time. Just watched your saga, this video would have definitely made it easier for you.

[@michaelmueller8976]

Excellent teaching in this video! I’m soaking it up like a sponge.

[@TheTrooperGirl]

Thank you so much for posting this video! Perfect timing for me. Sept 1 I introduced a supposed Sakratraz mated queen. Just checked the girls and I have multi eggs in some cells but the eggs are in the center and slightly leaning. Now I am not sure what my next step is. uuuurrrg! Another one of my hives: Queen Monique hive well not sure where she went. She she was marked before her mating flight and came back. That was a incredible site to see. Oh my gosh it was like a swarm. But back to the subject she is now gone. 2 queens have hatched no idea where they are at. Bee Drama Here! I am a new bee keeper and in the last 4 month have been crazy. I also have a Russian hive that has dual queens laying for over 3 months now.

[@user-pt7cm1ty2n]

Dang it, dang. Thank you very much for this vid. I have had laying worker hives 3 or 4 times in past. None of my efforts worked. This one makes complete sense. Thanks a ton.

[@BillJutz]

Really nice job on correcting the laying worker hive and thanks for the great information!

[@JeromeBeeFarm]

Excellent video Jason. I’ve heard shake out doesn’t work, but this variation is different with the good brood/eggs and a queen. I’ll give this a try next year if it happens and I have a queen available. In the past I’ve done screened combines and they superceed the queen after the screen is removed. So, then you have to wait for that queen to get going. Thanks for showing this. Take care.

[@beemanrunning977]

What an excellent video! Nice job Jason. Thank you.

[@robertkajor3774]

Thank You for comprehensive video from beginning right to the end👍

[@luoychau7441]

Thank you! Think your method is the best, educate, demonstrate, and result.

[@1wildwackywoman]

Enjoyed this very much. Good, solid info.

[@wmo1234]

Awesome Jason! I appreciate this knowledge.

[@richardnoel3141]

Great video Jason! Nicely done!

[@jackmorgan3498]

Thank you for taking the time to document this process from start to finnish. All too often people make videos and we never see the results. This video alone deserves a like and sub.

[@loveysbees7392]

Thanks so much. We are heading into spring here in New Zealand and I am planning on making some NUCs and grafting queens, so now I have an idea of what to do if things go wrong. I love your videos especially the ones you did on rearing queens.

[@livingadamman7994]

Check out Alan Teske from Australia has some 200+ videos inc one on drone laying worker fix, 61 years of bee keping and he's 81 years old, amazing info and under acknowledged resorse of great practicle and well explained info like Jasons great Chanel kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIPSdXeGlq-eftU.

[@SakimasRidgeHomestead]

Great information! Fortunately we haven't had to deal with a laying worker colony yet, but I'll give this a try when it happens. BTW, the NUC we got from you is booming.

[@JCsBees]

Glad to hear you have avoid the laying worker situation thus far. It's nothing any beekeeper looks forward too. lol I am also glad to hear the nuc is doing good. Did they manage to get plenty of stores built up for winter? Have you treated for mites or what's your approach there?

[@charlesoneill466]

Great video. I learned a lot. I have been combining them with a strong hive.

[@bompasbees782]

Excellent video Jason. I'm going to be using this technique this week. Thank you sir.

[@yonniyon-tusell5035]

Nice job thanks for sharing really appreciated Learning a lot on your KZbin channel

[@matto6148]

Great video! just what i was looking for. Thanks

[@jman414999]

thank you for the lesson

[@juliusatchison6797]

Thanks for the information and I hope this works for me as of today. Keep up the good work , you are smart!

[@timcaron9049]

Great video Jason. Very informative and great to know. Thanks and take care.

[@tedkraft6416]

Excellent process, nice job! Have got to do the same thing this week and appreciate your video. Well done! Only wish I had more normal brood but only have two hives. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks again.

[@tedkraft6416]

Update! I used some of your technique, but with limitations. Didn’t have brood from another colony so tried something a little different. I removed all of the drone brood frames from the laying worker nuk, shook off all the bees about 30 feet away, put the frames in the deep freezer over night, took the clean drawn frames (some had nectar in them) out and put them in a new deep box. Removed the nuk box from the area and replaced it with the new box containing the new queen in her cage. Next day, I pulled the drone frames (they had honey, nectar and pollen in them, let them defrost and returned them to the new hive. The queen was well on her way to be released. Closed the hive up. Checked it 2 days later and the queen was released and moving over the brood frames freely with workers acting normally. Seems like it was a successful save so far. Am now feeding them sugar water and pollen patties to help them build up. Thanks for the ideas! Appears to be some options available, just need to take a shot!

[@scottDmovies]

Great video. I just stumbled across it. Wish I would have seen this before I lost my working layer hive. What is the logic of releasing the queen from her cage within hours of establishing the new hive? I thought you should allow 3-4 days of protection so the workers would adjust to her pheromones. In my case, I would use a mated queen which you said would work too if I followed all the other steps you showed in your video.

[@TheBritishbeeman]

Grate video 👍🏽 iv got a mated queen on its way. Which I’m putting in a drone layer hive. As soon as it turns up I’m trying this 🤞🏽

[@JCsBees]

Awesome. Your gonna love this little trick!

[@TheBritishbeeman]

@@JCsBees manipulation all done and frames in the freezer Iv not let the queen out yet but they seemed fine with her no balling her. So hoping this works for me as this is a massive colony and was my first hive I started with 🐝 🤞🏽

[@JCsBees]

@@TheBritishbeeman Best of luck!

[@mahmoudhassan1497]

Nice work thanks for sharing

[@karlaaus4842]

Absolutely fascinating 👍

[@bompasbees782]

Jason this was such a great video, one of your best. Keep up the great work, take care

[@charliehincy5078]

Good Fix. Thank you!

[@timlewis9873]

I will try this 1 day, hopefully I'll never have too. Thank you.

[@Makermook]

Very cool. I've built a hive but I don't have bees yet. It's nice to learn this stuff ahead of time.

[@boblemery1029]

I have never seen a bad video from you too level please keep it up very interesting and informative

[@familyhearingandbalancecen9777]

Nice video! I like your approach here Jason.

[@JCsBees]

Glad you liked it!

[@kendunn2218]

A good informative video. This will work here in Australia just the same. I like your style of presentation too. Thanks.

[@JCsBees]

Glad it was helpful!

[@alexpaulson4597]

Fantastic, and very interesting! I remember seeing pictures of you doing this before, but the video just made it all the better. When they decided to go in that nuc, they sure piled in there! Amazing!! Fun to see the queen laying an egg like that too! Will this method only work with a virgin queen? Thanks for sharing JC!

[@JCsBees]

I am glad you enjoyed it. I can't say for sure but I do think a mated queen would work as long as she is caged and all the other steps are followed.

[@keeferhoneybees6127]

Great Video! I do see a bit of drone brood on that frame.

[@MannaAzad]

I found your video very informative. Thank you. I am blown away that an infertile worker can lay a living egg! It turns into a larva! How can that be?!? After seeing several videos on this (I'm trying to learn all I can before I start my own hives) I got to thinking. Those laying workers are doing everything in their little bug capacity to produce a queen. I am wondering...what would happen if someone took some of those drones and put them in queen cups? Would that hatch out a queen? Those bees are making so many miracles I am tempted to think this could happen. I am hoping someone conducts this experiment. I don't have bees myself or I would just pop a drone larva into a queen cup just to see what came out! Thanks again for your video.

[@bub1683]

good video/swedish beekeeper

[@JCsBees]

Thanks!

[@beesybee8921]

I usually shake all the bees out and stick one frame with brood in the middle and let them make a new queen

[@bandiengdoh1157]

Good job Bro I love this video from India

[@timthomas4046]

great success

[@AhmadAbdi]

Hey Jason, another way which i think gives more predicted results is to 1- shake the bees a few hundred meters from the original hive as less laying workers will get back due to their ovaries size and weight 2- use a mated queen under a push-in cage and allow her eggs/then larvae to suppress any remaining laying workers and after the mated queen is released in the hive usually the bees will take care of any remaining laying worker who tries to get to the queen... different way but yours could also work just fine

[@davidsachs4883]

Without asking Jason, I think the primary reason he didn’t shake them out a couple of hundred yards/meters away is that the young nurse bees that haven’t started to fly would all be lost

[@AhmadAbdi]

Yes i get your point, thanks for pointing out

[@paulchristu996]

Ahmad Abdi Laying worker hive has been queenless for weeks. There should be no young nurse bees present. When I have shaken bees at a distance, on checking that site an hour later I have never seen bees remaining.

[@carldaniels3659]

Jason, you bring new meaning to the phrase - " thinking outside of the box " . your awesome!!!!

[@kathybastian2272]

Hi Jason, love your videos! I just discovered my oldest and strongest colony of 5 years has a problem. I can’t find a queen, there are mostly all drone brood, some occasional rare flat

[@geanitsucuneli4791]

Nice ..Thanks!

[@gilmo5994]

Hello I did this with a mated queen and it worked perfectly. Took two frames from a good hive and added to an 8 frame deep. Frozen everything and reinstalled.

[@JCsBees]

Awesome!!

[@rupertmedford3901]

Thanks for showing this at various intervals

[@homersturgill9172]

Great video

[@Digger927]

Good job Jason! That's not normally an easy situation to fix. I don't have it happen very often but I have had success with doing it that way as well as pulling a laying queen on her frame with her workers and turning the frame so she's next to the wall. I don't always have extra queens around or queen cells so pulling a queen on her frame and letting the good colony build a queen has worked pretty good for me and they are less likely to kill a queen that's actively laying. Vinofarm had this problem a while back, as far as I know it's still ongoing with him trying to fix it.

[@vinofarm]

Oh, hi Brent!

[@Digger927]

Hey Jim, hows it going?

[@vinofarm]

Brent OK. Latest update will be up soon. I’ve gone full circle.

[@JCsBees]

Thanks Brent! Sooner of later every beekeeper will battle this so I thought a video would be helpful. Glad you found a way that works for you. Raising queens it happens more than I like.

[@chipfriday8166]

She looked marked in the cage! Reason you didn't mark her before her first release? Worried a marked virgin queen might be affected by the paint in flight? Drone refusal?

[@KingLama1]

Excellent... Will try this out as not been successful before. But yes changing the brood box over and frames to eradicate the laying worker pheromone makes sense, plus new queen. Though wonder if putting in a frame with some queen cells would also work....? Have shaken them out before a few yds away.... hoping the laying worker wont know her way home... but not successful. Tks

[@jesshowe4591]

I've been using this method for a while the only difference is I don't shake them out just changed the frames over From a Queen right colony put the drone laid frames in a good hive and put the good frames fertile queen colony in the drone laying workers colony worked every time they will make a queen and sort themselves out.

[@philjanikjr9805]

Also from my comment below, I have seen her walking on the frame with an egg hanging out...? This hive was a swarm I caught.

[@notafuckinpplperson8233]

Phil Janik Jr late reply. That wasn’t an egg hanging out. She’s been mated and that’s a drones “man parts” hanging out.

[@628DirtRooster]

If your memory is anything like mine has been lately you'll be cleaning all the comb out of frame number five's position in a few weeks. LOL

[@628DirtRooster]

I spoke too soon. You got it covered. :)

[@JCsBees]

Oh trust me, I would have surely forgotten to add the frame if it weren't for making this video. lol

[@kevscaptures8690]

@@JCsBees LOL that right there is funny! thank you for these vids. and that goes for 628 also! as a first year bee buyer ( I will let you know in the spring if I am a bee keeper ;) ) I have found them priceless!

[@decaturridgebees8761]

Hilarious

[@hanankad6418]

thank you

[@jonathanswoboda]

Very interesting video, have never seen this approach before, surprised they accept the new queen so quickly.

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

As is typical in Beekeeping, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I didn't have access to virgin queens...nor extra queens...so I literally just combined my laying worker nuc with a laying queen nuc with queen excluder and newspaper and in a few days all was good....they worked on tearing out all the drone comb and larvae and meanwhile the queen was laying...I combined three this year like this...one was a drone laying queen (newly mated) and two were just worker colonies.....one of them I just gave a mated queen and they accepted her with no problem..

[@ronnieholloway9109]

Kevin McMahon hello been missing your videos I’m a newbee and need all the help I can get

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

ronnie holloway not a lot to show recently that I thought would be video worthy...I did one vid just talking beekeeping had it all done and editing program crashed at the end and I lost it all...didn't feel like redoing all my work...lol

[@richiejohnson]

At 2:00. Look how he plays in the bees with his bare fingers!

[@JCsBees]

What's wrong with that? Bees won't sting unless they feel threatened. Try it sometime!

[@richiejohnson]

@@JCsBees newbie here. Not quite that confident yet, but getting there

[@ahorsley1027]

Thank you! Why did you have the bees walk into the hive instead of shaking them in the top?

[@JCsBees]

To shake them back into the hive would have done nothing. They need to feel homeless.

[@richardhamey7376]

Jason why did you not use a mated queen, typically I would use a mated queen with several frames of brood above the laying worker separated by a sheet of newspaper, pretty much works every time. But then again I always have nucs for back up! Obviously the biggest challenge with a laying worker is having spare “queens and brood “ for most folks. I would caution folks about trying to fix a laying worker colony without both. Often the laying worker will kill an introduced queen or virgin if not accompanied by additional eggs, brood and workers. Possibly the virgin technique works well because the virgin does not have the pheromones of a mated queen, I need to check that out some. Nicely done though, more options is always a plus.

[@richardkuhn8115]

Hi Jason. I enjoyed this video when you first published it. But haven't had to utilize the content until now. I have a fairly large Laying Worker Colony. You said the method you used is fairly consistent in it's success? My hive consists of one 8 Frame DEEP, and two 8 frame MEDIUMS. In your opinion, Should I just SHAKE them ALL out or try to combine with, like three other colonies using newspaper? Still am enjoying your videos Central Ohio Beekeeper! Blessings!

[@JCsBees]

That's for you to decide. Do you care if you lose one of your hive numbers? If not, then combined them. If you don't want to lose a colony they start shaking them out. There is still plenty of time in the season, if it were me I would shake them but I hate losing hive numbers when I am trying to grow.

[@robh1789]

Jason, thanks for the videos. On the laying worker fix, what is the aim of shaking out the bees if you are doing it right in front of the box? If any laying workers are there, they can presumably just walk back in. One traditional fix is to shake them out at a distance. I see the logic of that as you are hoping the laying workers cannot find their way back. Cheers.

[@JCsBees]

@Rob H I can't honestly say why it works shaking them out right as the base of the hive but I can say if you don't do it the added queens doesn't stand much of a chance, at least in my experience. I'm not sure if the walking back in triggers something causes the layers to stop or what but this method has worked every single time for me.

[@robh1789]

@@JCsBees thanks Jason. Interesting. maybe the shake-out causes a kind of reset. I am trying to help a friend fix a laying worker situation. Planning to try the adding a queenright brood comb method.

[@JCsBees]

Good luck!

[@michaelmueller8976]

Don’t you think marking the queen helps in spotting her more easily? I thank you for teaching on this subject.

[@JCsBees]

I do think marking helps to spot the queen. It's also a great way to keep track of their age if you use the queen marking coloring system. Last year was yellow, this year is red, etc...

[@suzanneguiho4882]

Thank you for this video....glad that it worked. I was wondering if it would have made a difference if instead of a Virgin Queen you would have put an already mated queen?

[@JCsBees]

Here's a video I made using the same approach but with a mated queen. Hope it helps kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGOQmpadf52Sp9k

[@suzanneguiho4882]

@@JCsBees Thanks.

[@0naallan429]

Awesome, thank you. Has anyone ever told you , you sound just like Mr. Rogers? :-)

[@JCsBees]

Glad you enjoyed it. I have never been told I sounds like Mr. Rogers. lol That's new one! It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! 😂

[@357lockdown]

Hi J man. Good vid thank you, just a couple of questions from this 2 year nubee. 1. Is there any special reason that you added a virgin queen instead of a mated queen? 2. Why dump the whole hive in front of the nuc box instead of right in it Thanks .

[@scottpierson7495]

Jason I have this problem now in one of my colonies, found a bunch of drone brood in the second box just wondering would the queen bee lay drone brewed to maybe try to keep the hive warm. Or should I just go ahead and shake it out give them a frame of eggs, and brewed and let them make their own queen?

[@kameronwomble1254]

I currently have a laying worker hive consisting of two med supers which they are covering. Would hate to lose it . I only have 3 hives the other two might have a queen cell ,I have no extra reared queens . Do you think this might work ? As for dumping them out that close to the hive doesn't that give the laying worker(s) a good chance of walking back in to set up shop? Though I guess they may attack the queen cells ? Kameron Fl.

[@sporkintheeye]

Any idea how long you have to try this method? I've been fighting a laying worker hive for a little over a month and I have about given up.

[@JCsBees]

This worked the first time both times I used it this season. Try it save your hive. If you can use a mated queen to save time but follow all the other steps. Best of luck!

[@davemaloneyvideos]

Thanks for another great video. I like your veil. Where did you get it?

[@JCsBees]

beeaccessories.co.nz/#products

[@gilmo5994]

Hello great video. I'm about to do this but with a mated queen. Wondering should I leave some bees on the doner frames from another hive? So the brood have some nurse bees? Also what should I do if there aggressive towards the queen? Any way to help that?

[@rexweston2227]

great video, but your manner of making the video is superb. it shows the process from start to finish over a few weeks. Often you only see the start of the process and are left with questions of how to proceed from there since it is a one time shot only. also, what will dissolve wax on clothing that can't be placed in boiling water?

[@TheTrooperGirl]

I personally used a iron with a paper towel. I have heard that using news paper works but I have not tried it.

[@timcaron9049]

Nice work Jason. Looks like you got your system down to a science. I really enjoyed this video. Will you be doing one on winterizing them? Take care, Tim

[@JCsBees]

Glad you enjoyed it! This method worked very well for me. A few year back I put together a little wintering series but have thought about doing a new one. I have changed a few of the things I do now. I guess it will depend on how much time I have available. Thanks for watchin'!

[@timcaron9049]

Yes, I understand about the time issue. I am sure with all the things happening around you, you barely have time for the bee videos. Take care and talk to you soon. Tim

[@byronharper1573]

8

[@Makermook]

Not quite on topic, but it has to do with queens getting mated: If I only have one hive and I want to do a walk away split, will the new virgin queen make with drones from her former colony?

[@PaulOtis]

Shared this video with my FB groups. I have never tried this approach but it looks great. I assume it would also work with a mated queen, or will her strong pheromones cause the laying workers to try to kill her?

[@JCsBees]

Thanks for sharing! As mentioned in another comment, I can't say for sure but I do think a mated queen would work as long as she is caged and all the other steps are followed. Best of luck!

[@rickdewitt3518]

Are those cattle tags? great idea!!

[@JCsBees]

Yes, I have a video on using them. They work very nice!

[@joetripp123]

This is very informative on the subject. Is there a reason you are shaking them at the entrance instead of inside the box? Is there a reason you are using a virgin queen instead of a mated one? Do you let the freezer frame come up to room temp before you re introduce it to the colony? Thanks

[@JCsBees]

Yes, to shake the bees back into the box would have fixed nothing, there is something to them marching back in and the new queens smell that makes this work. I used a virgin just because that's what I had free at the time. The same efforts would work with a mated queen though. Yes, always let the frame warm up before giving it back to bees.

[@grahamthomas2281]

Ive been donated a mated Queen and a frame of BIAS with nurse bees for my current DLQ hive. I went into the hive today and found and killed the DLQ ready for tomorrows introduction so they should definetly be Q- after 24 hours. Plan is to move the Q- hive to one side and have a new hive positioned on the original space with the BIAS, nurse bees and caged Queen sandwiched adjacent. Then shake out a frame at a time from the Q- hive and hopefully let them walk back in. At the same time I'll check for any other Qs. Provide some 2:1 syrup. Does this sound right??? TIA.

[@steverochon1620]

I really found this video interesting! I am trying to alleviate a laying worker issue right now. I took a different approach and placed the laying worker box on top of a queen right box with newspaper between them. I’m hoping they will pick up on the smell of a queen right box and stop the laying worker. This was recommended by a local mentor, as well as what I’ve seen from a university program in Ontario. But what you did here was interesting, and I could take these steps after awhile, once they stop the laying worker. Questions about a few things i noticed.... you have all these 5 frame nuc boxes. Is that what you do, produce nuts? Do you get any honey from these hives at all? I’ve never seen anyone combine deep frames with mediums, but I’m new to this. Finally, do you find the 5 frame boxes are easier to over-winter? Are you located where winters are easy or as harsh as northern Illinois? Thanks for posting this, I found it really helpful and interesting. Take care.

[@JCsBees]

Best of luck with the laying workers. And yes there is more than 1 worker laying in most cases. Yes, I sell nucs. I could get honey from them if I wanted but I do not push honey sales, I'd rather the bees eat their honey so I don't have to feed them plus the honey is better for them then sugar water. I can't say that nucs are easier to overwinter as they take the same preparation as any colony but they can survive our Ohio winters. Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for stopping in and commenting!

[@craig6903]

Hey Jason, I have a hive go queen less, and I tried giving them brood and even put a mates queen, think they killed her. I have a super strong hive next to them, do you think I could just combine the two hive and correct the laying worker issue I have with the weak hive?

[@JCsBees]

Yes you can combine them easy enough with newspaper. Can I ask though, when you added a frame of brood and your queen did you shake all the bees out and make them walk back in? That is a very important step.

[@craig6903]

Jason Chrisman At the time I add the brood and even when I have them a marked queen. I thought the hive was just queenless. So I didn’t shake them out of the hive. Even after the kill the queen, I found a large capped queen cell. Which totally confused me. The only thing I can think is that there are laying workers.

[@jeffmilburn4264]

Will this work if I put a queen right nuc in the laying worker hives location and shake the bees like you did, but have the mated queen caged in the nuc?

[@laurenmommsen9826]

Question…does it matter if it’s a mated queen or a virgin queen? Thank you for the video!!

[@JCsBees]

No. I have a video using each.

[@lindashoemaker9117]

What prevents the laying worker from re-entering the hive after the shake-off?

[@JCsBees]

Nothing prevents them, it more that the desire to lay is suppressed

[@lf777]

Hi Jasson, I have a laying worker colony, but I don't have brood fram. If I following your steps, Is it going to work?

[@charleskyler1928]

Hey JC, how did they do long term? Do you have to use an unmated queen, or is that just what you had on hand? My bee group ran into multiple laying worker hives last summer, including two of my own. Would love to have something in the tool kit to salvage the hive. Thanks.

[@JCsBees]

Hey Charles, They have done great since this video. Now they just need to pull through winter. I think a mated queen would work as long as the same steps were taken to install her. Best of luck!

[@charleskyler1928]

Jason Chrisman thanks, I’ll share with my group next week. We are a sub group of the county bee keepers assoc that does continuing education year round. Last week I held a wooden ware class to build nucs for spring. Queen rearing is up next.

[@ronnieburbage2119]

I captured a swarm and in a hurry I used brood frames and super frames in same box now it’s a mess. Comb is everywhere. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this? Thanks

[@MrHoneybeeScratcher]

I swore I saw a Queen cell on the bottom of that 1 frame you found the virgin queen on...was I wrong?

[@JCsBees]

If there was I didn't see it.

[@chipfriday8166]

Me too, but looking from the other side it was clear to me it was a stalagmite of wax having down.

[@1wildwackywoman]

Please share what’s that u used to mark the queen?

[@JCsBees]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJC5ZYR7r5Z1fq8

[@1wildwackywoman]

So I’m going to try this tomorrow. I have my frames in the freezer tonight. What’s your advice in regard to all those capped drones cells ~ Will the queen lay in them (once they are cleaned out) and will the nurse bees create another drone in its place? BTW, I’ll be installing a mated queen. That shouldn’t make a difference, should it? I really appreciate your videos. You always do such a good job!

[@paulchristu996]

1wildwackywoman Laying workers lay eggs in worker-sized cells; it’s only the capping that is mushroomed. Once the cap is removed, along with the dead larva, the bees will tidy up the edges and the cell will be ready for worker eggs to be laid.

[@1wildwackywoman]

Paul Christu thx for the info

[@philjanikjr9805]

I have been toying with a laying worker with a queen present...? Sugestions

[@denisecouch5336]

If I don’t have a queen available, do you think I could use queen cells?

[@JCsBees]

I think it's worth trying but I can't say for sure. Best of luck!

[@JasonEmery9]

Please help. Top box, deep, no queen excluder, has only honey. Bottom box has drone brood galore, with some honey but no regular worker brood, eggs, or larva. Started pulling frames and found the marked queen right where you would expect, about three or four frames in, walking around as if nothing was wrong!! Any ideas?

[@JCsBees]

@Jason Emery Sounds like you have a bad queen. She is what's called a drone laying queen. She will never go back to normal. I'd replace her asap. Best of luck!

[@ozidanjuna2548]

frame in the nuk hive where you shake bees , is capped brood frame from another hive ?

[@marshacooper6180]

Could you use this method using a queen cell on a frame of brood rather than a virgin or mated queen?

[@JCsBees]

Not sure but it's surely worth a try. Keep me posted if you do it.

[@johndoe-rj1ls]

Hi Jason. Great videos thanks for sharing. On your fixing laying worker colony you used a virgin. Would the process be any different with a proven mated queen? Thanks

[@JCsBees]

It's that same process for a mated queen. Matter a fact, part 2 of this video is with a laying queen.

[@BeeToZFL]

Another trick in the box.

[@stufarnham]

Hi Jason, I am dealing with my first laying worker colony. All drone cells, crappy pattern, etc. I do not have any queens or queen cells to give them at the moment. Is it worth giving them a frame of normal brood to see if that will kick them into creating emergency cells? I’m going to give it a shot as I have no other option and nothing to lose. Stu

[@JCsBees]

Hey Stu, It's worth a shot but I would shake all the bees out first then add brood frames and let bees march back in. May need to prop a board up to hive for them to march in. Best of luck!

[@stufarnham]

Jason Chrisman That’s my plan, Jason. At this point I have nothing to lose. If it fails I am right where I am now. If the brood pheromone turns it around it’s all good and there is another trick to try.