I have a hive that really likes to supercede the queen for some reason. They did it twice last year and they were going strong this year. Checked on it today and found 5 capped queen cells and a couple more that were uncapped. Is there any specific reason that would make them continue to supercede?
At this point I guess I just give it a few weeks till the new queen hatches and starts laying and go from there. Would there be any reason to take one of the capped queen cells and put it into a nuc to start a new queen going, or would the supercedure thing be a genetic issue that I don't want to carry on?
Quote from: homer on April 27, 2009, 10:27:14 PM
I have a hive that really likes to supercede the queen for some reason. They did it twice last year and they were going strong this year. Checked on it today and found 5 capped queen cells and a couple more that were uncapped. Is there any specific reason that would make them continue to supercede?
Sounds like it. Stop and think about it. You have a queen who has a deficiency or trait that the bees don't want. They raise a replacement from the egg of the unacceptable queen. Sounds like the deficiency or trait is being passed down. Your just lucky they didn't attempt a supersedure to late in the season for the replacement to mate, which is often the case.
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At this point I guess I just give it a few weeks till the new queen hatches and starts laying and go from there. Would there be any reason to take one of the capped queen cells and put it into a nuc to start a new queen going, or would the supercedure thing be a genetic issue that I don't want to carry on?
Sounds like it.
http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/can-you-afford-emergency-queens/
Okay, So I guess that I'm going to let them raise their new queen and start some nucs and as soon as I get a new queen I'll replace her with with a new one.
Here's another question then...
I want to make sure that I get a good quality queen to replace the genes in this bad hive. I was thinking of allowing another hive to crowd out to the point that it wants to swarm... then take out some of the swarm cells and place them in the nucs to raise up queens that way. Then I would be getting the best quality queens that I could I think?
Could I then split out the old queen to let them think they have swarmed and then after a few days combine them back together?
I hope I'm making sense.
I think I understand what you are saying. Sounds kinda like how I do things.
Only one draw back, the colony you push into the swarming mode may not make much if any honey.
Plus, you still have the potential of that colony swarming.
Catch'um in time. Should work out fine . :)doak
According to Nancy Ostiguy the average queen is superseded three times a year. You're just up to the average.
Quote from: Michael Bush on April 28, 2009, 11:06:16 PM
According to Nancy Ostiguy the average queen is superseded three times a year. You're just up to the average.
Okay, but how often does it happen according to you and all the other beeks on this forum? I can't believe that it happens that frequently.
Quote from: homer on April 29, 2009, 01:04:33 PM
Quote from: Michael Bush on April 28, 2009, 11:06:16 PM
According to Nancy Ostiguy the average queen is superseded three times a year. You're just up to the average.
Okay, but how often does it happen according to you and all the other beeks on this forum? I can't believe that it happens that frequently.
I've had queens for as long as 5 years, marked and coded. Other times I've had a hive do several supercedures back to back. In my experience 3 or more times a year would be on the high side unless there was a genetic difficiency in the queens, therefore in the eggs.
Swapping out brood frames or transfering a queen cell into the offending hive should resolve the problem.