supercedure again

[troutstalker2]

 

  I have one hive I requeened in July, the queen was excepted and seemed to be laying very well. I checked three weeks later there was a good laying pattern and a queen cell. I let nature take its coarse. The new queen mated and started laying like the queen it replaced; good brood pattern and building up nicely again. I went in to check her a couple of days ago and there is another supercedure cell. Whats up?
  I don't think its a real problem but I am curious.

David

[Bee-Bop]

Making Queen cells is a normal part of bee life, This is a method of being prepared, if they don't need it they will destroy it, and start making another one, not uncommon to have a couple in variouis stages of development.

Kinda like Drone cells, hive can have a thousand not needed live Drones, but there will be drone cells, you destroy those cells, and the Queen will lay new ones.

This is a subject covered in most basic bee keeping books.

Bee-Bop

[troutstalker2]

 
These are fully developed queen cells, a new queen will emerge. They are making new queens and superceding, not queen cups that are a normal part of life in a bee hive. This will be the 3rd generation since the introduction of the queen in July.

David

[Adam james]

I have had the same problem in my observation hive they superceded the origanal queen in July then after the new queen had mated and started a good brood pattern they killed her off and produced another virgin queen, Now its October and the new virgin has been out her cell for 3 weeks , no eggs yet and i doubt she has mated with any drones , thou she has been out on mating flights. Why would they do this they have only insured the colony's failing ??

[Kathyp]

some hives are like that.  i have one that almost always has queen cells in it and i know they have changed queens once or twice.  whenever i need to replace a queen quickly, i can count on a donor cell from that hive!