superceedure cell

millermann1972 · May 05, 2008, 03:08:23 PM

hello all, i was checking on a split i done about a month ago and found a superceedure cell. i put a queen in when the split was done and she is laying wall to wall. they have drawn out 8 of the ten frames so i added a shallow super. i run deep and a shallow on my hives. what does this mean...they don't like the queen or what? hate to lose this queen she is laying like crazy. thanks millermann

BMAC · May 05, 2008, 03:30:34 PM

I asked a more season Beek a very similar question. His response is the bees dont feel like she is doing her part and will Supercede her regardless if you knock the cell out. So maybe if you want to keep her take her and 1 frame of bees brood out and stick her in an another box, NUC....

annette · May 05, 2008, 05:45:19 PM

Is it a cell or a cup??? A cell looks like a peanut that has a larvae in it and closed up on the end. A cup is just open with nothing in it,and the bees do that all the time.

millermann1972 · May 05, 2008, 05:56:46 PM

its a cell...nice one too. its caped, hanging on the forth frame half way up.

annette · May 05, 2008, 06:00:37 PM

I would not cut it out for sure. The bees know what is best and for some reason they want to replace that queen.

millermann1972 · May 05, 2008, 10:17:59 PM

naaa i dont think i will mess with the cell. the bees know what best. i wonder if i do what BMAC said to do and make a nuc if they will do the same thing again. :?

doak · May 05, 2008, 10:46:21 PM

Then if they do let it run.
my $00.02 doak

millermann1972 · May 06, 2008, 03:58:24 PM

well went into the hive and found the queen...watched her for a while stick her head in the cell then turn around to lay a egg. man she was rolling, to bad they didnt like her. let see what happens in her new nuc box. hope the old girl makes it :'(

BMAC · May 06, 2008, 05:54:00 PM

Good luck with it. Maybe they just dont understand where the swarm cell should go.

More than 1 Supercedure cell?

millermann1972 · May 06, 2008, 10:27:51 PM

BMAC when i done the split today i went through all the frames to find the queen....on one frame i found 5 more queen cells on the bottom. :shock: i guess these bees are swarm happy. i done the split about a month ago with 3 frames and put in the queen. they had plenty of room, not cramped at all. go figure

watercarving · May 06, 2008, 10:50:31 PM

What kind of bees are they?

millermann1972 · May 06, 2008, 10:52:52 PM

new world carnies

BMAC · May 07, 2008, 11:05:08 AM

So it sounds like the hive is ready to swarm rather than supercede the old queen.

Yeah good call on splitting. If I were you I would yank out a couple of frames of young brood when you made that split just to give the other bees more room. That will also remove some of the nurse bees for the old queen to continue laying.....

Woohoo. Congrats on your hive.......