Q & A

I have only two colonies on my roof, and I lost one of them this winter. The second hive, despite this weird weather we've had, seems very strong and has been doing quite well. I decided to an inspection today as there was little to no wind and the temperature was up near 70 for a bit in the afternoon. I have four mediums as the hive. Upon pulling out a few frames from the top super I noticed that there were a lot of drone cells, including multiple that had been between the frame and the box below that I'd ripped open by removing the frame. I saw that there were eggs in the cells, and only solitary eggs, which leads me to believe that I have a drone laying queen rather than egg laying workers.

Because I don't have another hive to work with, I am looking to understand the best options for remedying this situation. From what I've seen, merging the hive with a nuc seems to be the most successful option, but I'd love suggestions.

Thanks,