I have a hive that tends to make a lot of gooey, gunky proplolis.
It has queen cups. Only three, small, empty cups, scattered throughout the hive, and they have been there over a week still unused. I heard that colonies sometimes like to have a spare unused cup or two built just in case? Perhaps a not so subtle threat to the queen... "keep it laying, lady, or else."
Quote from: Bob Wilson on May 23, 2021, 06:23:58 PM
I have a hive that tends to make a lot of gooey, gunky proplolis.
It has queen cups. Only three, small, empty cups, scattered throughout the hive, and they have been there over a week still unused. I heard that colonies sometimes like to have a spare unused cup or two built just in case? Perhaps a not so subtle threat to the queen... "keep it laying, lady, or else."
I have colonies that do that, have a couple cups around at any given time. Sometimes I remove them, just so I know if they are new or not, but sometimes I don't. :happy:
Quote from: The15thMember on May 23, 2021, 06:30:01 PM
I have colonies that do that, have a couple cups around at any given time. Sometimes I remove them, just so I know if they are new or not, but sometimes I don't. :happy:
Same here Member
It is normal for bees to make queen cups and not use them. Most st strong hives have queen cups in them. They don?t mean anything until you see larvae in them.
Jim Altmiller
I noticed from the angle in Bobs picture what looks like possible drone brood. It does not mean they intend to build up queen cells but it is a closer step in that direction. If those are drone cells, it would not be a bad idea to keep and eye on this.