My Nucs are only a couple of weeks old and they were both going great (at least that's what I thought). Saturday I went into the hive to check the smaller one out and I noticed a supercedure cell with a large larva and royal jelly in there but it wasn't capped. Today I checked and it's capped.
The colony seemed to be going great. There are twice as many bee's as a few weeks ago when I received the Nuc and the current queen seems to be doing great. There is capped brood, larva and eggs throughout the 4 inner frames.
Question: Do I leave this cell alone and see what happens or do I crush it?
My father in law says "if you don't know what to do with bee's then do nothing!". In fact he said to just leave them do their thing.
What do you guys think? How late in the season will they requeen themselves? Is this normal?
Thanks.
Joe
Im sure someone with more experience than me will chime in, but in these parts, the drone evictions are all but over. I only saw a few drones on my last inspection over the weekend when I went pretty deep thru 3 hives. The bees know what they need better than us, and they probably have a reason for wanting to replace her. That being said, I would not figure on getting a queen mated this late around here. But your quandary may be if they have their mind made up, what can you do? Tear it down and they will rebuild. Hopefully you will get some helpful input. Good luck. G :chop:
>My father in law says "if you don't know what to do with bee's then do nothing!".
Good advice. Leave it alone.
ready to catch a swarm. out with the old in with the new.
most all swarms are keepers
AHB's are not
Joe,
If it really is a supersedure cell that is a good thing. You may end up with a mother daughter hive, both laying eggs at the same time. More than likely your bees have sensed some sort of defect with your queen and are trying to correct it. Win win situation more likely than lose/lose situation if there is a defect and you remove the cell.
Jim
Got it. Thx guys. I'm leaving it alone.
Joe