I took advantage of the nice weather to inspect my hive today. 2 weeks ago I had added a super because the two boxes looked pretty full. To encourage bees to move up there I moved one frame of honey and one frame of brood. I put a QE in and I am 100% sure that the queen was below (I saw her, she is marked). Today I could not see the queen but there was brood at all stages in the hive. But what puzzled me was some brood in the top frame. All capped. Could it be that the brood I moved never hatched? Was that a mistake to move brood up in the honey super? Thanks, as usual for the advice and knowledge
Is that frame covered in bees or did not they abandon it. I?m guessing it has bee all over it and they are just fine.
Jim Altmiller
If there were eggs and young grubs on the frame you moved up 2 weeks ago, they are still to hatch.
Like Jim said, if there are bees up there keeping it warm, all will be OK. Look in another 7 days.
Yes there were bees, the goal of having the bees move up here was achieved after all. I plan to look in 2 more weeks ? I am trying to stick to a regular 2 week inspection schedule. Thank you
Rgennaro; Here is a tip, anytime you put brood above a queen excluder check for queen cells in 7 days. Often the excluded portion of the hive thinks the queen is failing and will start cells under the supersedure impulse.
thanks. The QC would be above the excluder correct? I didn't see any there though I some (empty) ones in the regular boxes. Some were in the middle (supersedure) and some at the bottom (swarm) of the frames.
So is moving brood above the excluder not recommended?
thanks
R
No, what I said was that when you move brood above an excluder in seven days you should check for queen cells on that brood. Moving brood is an accepted management tool. Just that it often causes the bees to react in certain ways.
Location on the frame of a queen cell does not dictate it's use. Swarm cells can be in the center of the frame as well as along the perimeter, even though they usually are seen first on the outer edge of the brood pattern. Number of cells, age of cells, construction type, and time of the year are the best indication of what the bees intend. Don't get in the habit of calling queen cells swarm or supersedure based on location only.