So today was my second real inspection I have done with my hive. I found both queens (they are HUGE). I miss-spaced a few frames and they took advantage of it by drawing out the comb further (oops). So I hived these two colonies on the 7th and today they currently have 5 frames drawn out completely, with two more in the works. They are really doing well, but in both hives, towards the 5-6 frame in, I noticed what looked like swarm cells. I may be wrong because they were drawn out from existing cells in the comb. They could be drone but they are top, center on the frame. I wish I had a picture. They were not drawn vertically (downward) but jutting out towards the adjacent frame, out of a normal cell about 1/4 of an inch. They are relatively smooth cap's and there were only 2 or 3 in either of the hives. Should I be worried?
Also, I didn't add my second brood box as I figured I would wait another week. The weather is supposed to be rainy until this next Friday.
Well, after looking for a picture to post I found that what I saw was likely drone cells. They were just in that perfect spot that I thought Swarm.
They looked like this picture.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3199/2489292560_9e676595ef.jpg)
Sorry for wasting a post.....
Yepp, drone brood if it looked like that. Queen cells look like peanuts in texture and once you see one you'll never mistake them again. Queen cups are the empty queen cells and are common...you should familiarize yourself with those as well (so you don't panic when you see them)!
Scott
At 20 days past installation you should not have to worry about swarming too much.The bee numbers from a package have been steadily declining since installation,unless you had a nuc colony. If the queen started laying on day one,your first brood will just be getting ready to emerge and start reversing the falling numbers.It may be 18 to 20 days before those new bees become foragers if enough of the original bees hang on that long.
And do not be in a hurry to remove swarm or supercedure cells. You could end up with a queenless hive.
Have fun with your new hives,sounds like they are off to a great start!
http://www.beemaster.com/site/honeybee/qpage.htm (http://www.beemaster.com/site/honeybee/qpage.htm)
Swarmcells should be near the bottom of the frames.
Not a wasted post at all. And that is a great picture of three drone cells. The best description I have head has been used on here at time:
They( drone brood) resemble KIX cereal.