I used the nicot system this year for the first time and just as an observation noticed a white substance visible through the back of the brown cell cups in the base of the cells.
What is it? Feed or something.... It looks like Vasaline but a little whiter and some is used before the queen hatches and after the Queen hatching the bees seem to clear it up fairly quickly. Any Ideas..
am fairly certain you will find that to be royal jelly the queen larvae are literally bathed in a puddle of it inside the cell.
Barry
But its white and greasy to the touch, also the queen at 13-15 days could not feed from this end of the cell as her head is at the other end nearest the cap.
that is what you want, a well feed queen, means as a larva she had plenty to eat and will be all she can be, the cells that do not have this is the queens that probably want be up to par, I want that royal jelly in all my queen cells, oh she will only eat when she is a larva , not as a pupa.
and no fears, the excess royal jelly will not be wasted, the nurse bees will reclaim it, and use it to feed the 1- 3 day old larvae before they start on the courser diet of bee bread.
>means as a larva she had plenty to eat and will be all she can be, the cells that do not have this is the queens that probably want be up to par, I want that royal jelly in all my queen cells
;)