Non-laying assassin queen

[Tyro]

Has this happened to anyone else?

For literally weeks (at least 4), I have been trying to queen a split.  The split was queenless (the parent hive is still queenright), but would not accept a queen (I lost two purchased queens in it).  It never had eggs or larva after the brood in the initial split frames emerged.  I put a third queen in a couple of days ago using Robo and Irwin's re-queening frame design (see "Thanks to Robo and Irwin" post).  I checked yesterday and all was well - the queen was alive in the frame and being fed by attendants. 

However, when I checked the other frames, I found a second queen!  I don't know where she came from, but she must have been hiding in there for at least 3 weeks (that is the period over which I lost the other queens), and she never laid even one egg.  Apparently, she was just hanging out, assassinating the queens that I put in there!

Anyway, I put her in a cage and banked her in another hive.  After losing so many queens, I am reluctant to pinch any now until I know my hives are queenright.  Still, I am thinking I shouldn't use her, even in an emergency, as she doesn't seem inclined to lay eggs.

Any thoughts?  thanks

Mike

[kathyp]

sounds like you did the right thing.  maybe she was poorly mated, or defective.  as soon as you know the other is doing well, you'll probably be safe to off that one.