queen cup on bottom of frame and swarm?

tlynn · April 05, 2009, 11:45:16 PM

Yesterday I found these cells on the bottom of a frame in a 2 deep hive (bottom box) that experienced a supercedure less than a month ago. I gave her a second brood box with new duraglit 3 weeks ago today and the second shot is a frame representative of 6 of the frames in this new box. I am going to add a 3rd brood box this week and plan to do splits in a month when new queens arrive. Do you think they're planning to swarm, even with the new real estate they have?

Kathyp · April 05, 2009, 11:47:46 PM

nice brood pattern. add the box. is it time for honey yet?

maybe no swarm. found the same in a super today and the hive appears queenless. maybe a virgin around somewhere waiting for drones and weather. however, if that is what your whole hive looks like, you won't have much room soon. then you'll get a swarm almost certainly.

Cheryl · April 05, 2009, 11:50:01 PM

It is bees' natural tendency to swarm. Swarming is a good thing; it means a healthy colony. Catching it before they swarm and doing a split sometimes saves the work of trying to catch the swarm later -- but neither is foolproof.

And WOW, that's a lot of capped brood in the second photo!

tlynn · April 05, 2009, 11:56:44 PM

Quote from: kathyp on April 05, 2009, 11:47:46 PM
nice brood pattern. add the box. is it time for honey yet?

maybe no swarm. found the same in a super today and the hive appears queenless. maybe a virgin around somewhere waiting for drones and weather. however, if that is what your whole hive looks like, you won't have much room soon. then you'll get a swarm almost certainly.

Yes, there's a citrus flow on now. One super mostly capped so far and another half full. And hive is solid brood like that in box 2 and box one in more stages of development but full just the same. There is a good bit of drone comb on a couple frames as well. Thought I'd have a little more time and so scrambled to order new woodenware last week when I saw the second new box full of eggs and larvae last week.

Cheryl · April 06, 2009, 12:00:00 AM

That's quite a queen you've got there!! The supersedure was a good one! Congrats!

Michael Bush · April 06, 2009, 08:12:39 PM

If there is no larvae in the cup I wouldn't consider it to mean anything.

tlynn · April 07, 2009, 12:47:21 AM

Quote from: Michael Bush on April 06, 2009, 08:12:39 PM
If there is no larvae in the cup I wouldn't consider it to mean anything.

They were both empty.

Brian D. Bray · April 07, 2009, 12:47:37 AM

Quote from: Michael Bush on April 06, 2009, 08:12:39 PM
If there is no larvae in the cup I wouldn't consider it to mean anything.

A lot of hives, regardless of race, maintain queen cups all year long. They will make some, tear some down, build others and tear those down. Until I see and egg, larvae, or capped queen cell I ignore them. Russians build a lot more of them than do Italians.