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1. FIND QUEEN
First thing to do is LOOK FOR YOUR QUEEN. It helps if she is marked when the colony is small. If you cannot see the queen, then look for capped worker brood and eggs. If you see capped worker brood and eggs, don't worry about finding the queen. She is there and all is fine with the colony. Close them up and leave.
If you cant find her, take a look at this video to help track her down - FIND A QUEEN.
2. ADD FRAME OF EGGS
Day 0: If you cant find the queen and the colony has no eggs or capped worker brood, there may be an issue. First thing to do is to establish if the bees have swarmed recently. If they have, leave for 3-4 weeks to see if they can get one of the virgins from the swarming process mated. If they haven't swarmed, add a single frame of eggs into the middle of the brood nest and then leave the colony alone for 8 days to test the emergency response.
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3. IDENTIFY CELLS
Day 8: After 8 days, take your marked frame of eggs and see if they have started to create emergency queen cells (see above). If they have started to create cells then your colony is hopelessly queenless. You now have 2 options. Option 1: Remove all cells except one and leave it to open mate.
Option 2 (recommended): Remove ALL emergency cells and continue process below.
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4. ADD CAGED QUEEN
Day 8: Immediately after destroying ALL the emergency cells, the colony is now hopelessly queenless. They have no queen and no resources (eggs or larvae) to create one.
Add a mated queen, in a sealed queen cage and place between two frames of brood. Do not remove the tab covering the fondant.
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5. REMOVE FONDANT TAB
Day 10: Leave the sealed cage in between the brood frames for 48 hrs. This allows the bees to get used to the smell of their new queen.
After 48 hrs, you can remove the plastic tab to expose the fondant. Place the cage back between the frames of brood and the bees will slowly release the queen.
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6. CHECK FOR EGGS
Day 17: After 1 week, we go back and check for eggs to see if the queen has been successfully introduced. If you see eggs, then there is no need to see the queen.
If you dont see eggs, try and locate the queen. It can take 2-3 weeks for mated queens to come back into lay following being caged.
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We have had great success with the nuc we purchased from you it is so healthy and friendly bees. And so subsequently purchased a replacement queen for our established hive. The YouTube videos and advice have helped us more than the courses we have been on or books we have read. Laurence is great and replied to emails very quickly. Thank you.
Sarah Stanzi
Is there are queen in my beehive? Find out below.
I found a colony of bees that I suspect is queenless. I followed the 6 key steps above to identify and confirm if the colony of bees had a queen inside. This is a really important process as unless you can identify if the colony of bees is queenless, it means you are unable to fix the problem by adding a new queen.
NEXT DAY DELIVERY ON QUEENS. ORDER BEFORE 4PM.
Are your bees queenless? We have mated queens to help save your bees
Our queens are bred from the healthiest and most productive colonies, ensuring strong and thriving hives. Experience the benefits of our premium queens and take your beekeeping to the next level.
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Bought a number of Buckfast Queens, always arrived in tip top condition and have all been great laying queens. Super speedy delivery, great service. 💕🐝
Carla Smith
Our ordering process is simple
We do our best to make things as simple as possible. From fast checkouts to Apple/Google Pay. We have you covered.
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Our website is backed by WIX so it's super-fast and secure. We support fast checkouts with Google/Apple Pay to make ordering as simple as possible. We take all major credit/debit cards.
Fast Delivery
We work as hard as the bees to get your orders to you ASAP. Queens/Nucs are sent via Royal Mail’s Special Tracked Next Day Delivery and all other orders are sent via a Tracked 48hr service.
Customer Service
We don’t just deliver your bees and abandon you. We produce a wide range of videos to help you become a better beekeeper. We are always contactable by phone, email or WhatsApp.
Quality Products
Whether you want to buy queen bees or you are looking for nucs for sale, quality is everything to us. We don't cut corners! When you buy from BMH, you get the very best bees money can buy.
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