What would cause a queen to go from Rock-star to Sub-par?

[royl]

As you may have read in my last two posts, I split a huge hive and moved the great queen to a new box a few feet away. Since then, the large hive has re-queened but my rock-star queen (that was moved) is barely laying. She is laying like it is Winter. There is very little brood and larvae. 2 Weeks ago I put 1:1 sugar water on top and 2 frames of capped brood with some bees to hopefully jump start her again. Some of the brood has hatched but the remaining are still capped. I'm wondering if there aren't any nurse bees at this point which may be the reason why she is no longer laying. I'm thinking I need to give her more bees/brood.


At this point my question is two fold. What can I do at this point to get her going again and where did I go wrong? I'd love to hear other's feedback.

[Jacobs]

She may be playing out. Rock stars don't stay rock stars forever. You have tried the 2 main things I can think of--feeding and additional help. Some bees (Russian and Carniolan come to mind) are more sensitive to slow downs in nectar availability and will slow laying when supplies are reduced. If you have kept a steady supply of 1:1 in the feeder I think you would have seen a response by now if feed was an issue. If there is a decent population of bees in the hive, I think she would be laying to her capacity. Another frame of brood wouldn't hurt anything and may help you confirm an ongoing slow down.

[royl]

Ok. I'm glad that my logic is reasonable since I'm still a novice. I'll summon up some more brood, bees, and beer from the next hive to see what happens. (The beer is for me)

I can't wrap my mind around what triggered her to stop. I do not think this was coincidence. I think everything happens for a reason. Newton's third law. Maybe she got stressed from the move or the robbing that occurred (especially after I started feeding 1:1 on top hive feeder).

I'll try a couple of more frames to see what happens and post my results. Thanks again for all your help!

[Becky Hampton]

I had the same thing happen this spring. I had a really strong hive last year with a queen that was going great guns. I split the hive in March with hopes of having her gear up another strong hive. I gave her a couple of frames of brood, nurse bees, honey, pollen - but she never got going. I had to give her more brood. Still didn't gear up. I eventually had to replace her. She's now preserved in a jar with alcohol to serve as a queen pheremone for a swarm if I have a chance to catch one.

[WannaBee1]

Are you serious? Can queen bee pheromones be retained in a jar of alcohol?

[Becky Hampton]

That was the advice I got. I'll let you know if I ever get a chance!

[Jacobs]

I haven't tried it, but I think the theory behind it is that the alcohol will keep the queen pheromones from drying out and will help disperse them in the air as the alcohol evaporates. As with many things in beekeeping, if it is not likely to cause harm, why not try it and see if it works.