Queen cells - what next?

[Koala John]

Hello,
It's prime swarming season here in Australia. I've just inspected a hive and found one frame with two uncapped queen cells on it. Could someone please check the photo below and let me know your thoughts on what I am looking at and what steps to take next?

http://yfrog.com/2mimg0130yj

This hive is in an urban area so I'd like to spilt it now if there is any danger of a swarm. It is bringing in lots of honey though so I would prefer to leave things as they are if this is not going to swarm.
Some more info if it's of use to you:
They are working hard, there is a normal amount of drones in the hive, they have plenty of space above for honey storage, the brood nest appears to be reasonably open (though there is a little nectar being stored in the brood nest) and I rotated the two brood boxes yet again anyway. The queen is still laying, the hive is strong. I didn't do a complete inspection but saw no other queen cells.

Thanks in advance,
John.

[annette]

This looks like queen cups to me, and not queen cells. The hives are always making these and tearing them down.

Is there anything inside those cups??? If they are empty, then probably not much to worry about. If they have a larvae inside, then they may end up supercedure cells since they are in the middle of the frame and not on the bottom.  Also when the hive starts to make swarm cells, you see much more than just 2.

When I want to open up the brood nest, I introduce an empty frame in between frames of brood. Usually like this empty, brood, brood, empty, brood, brood. This keeps the nurse bees busy drawing out wax and less chance of them swarming. But I use totally empty foundationless frames.  Read Michael Bush's website for info on keeping the brood nest open.

Hope I didn't confuse you.

Annette

[iddee]

Annette said it well. Queen cups are nothing to worry about, and if they do develop into queen cells, they are most likely supercedure cells and should be left to emerge.

Here is what a queen cell looks like.

[Koala John]

Thanks Annette and Iddee. No you didn't confuse me, I've been following Michael's method of opening the brood nest, with good results so far, which is another reason I was a bit surprised to see them.
Thanks for the advice, that's put my mind at ease. It was hard to be sure but I didn't see eggs in them. Either way I won't worry, if they want to supercede her majesty then that's none of my business anyway!
Thanks again for your quick and thorough help it's really helped my confidence in being able to look after these hives without a mentor.
Best regards,
John.

[bee-nuts]

Thanks Annette and Iddee. No you didn't confuse me, I've been following Michael's method of opening the brood nest, with good results so far, which is another reason I was a bit surprised to see them.
Thanks for the advice, that's put my mind at ease. It was hard to be sure but I didn't see eggs in them. Either way I won't worry, if they want to supercede her majesty then that's none of my business anyway!
Thanks again for your quick and thorough help it's really helped my confidence in being able to look after these hives without a mentor.
Best regards,
John.

What is Michael's method of opening the brood nest?

Please provide a link if there is one.

Thanks

[Koala John]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesexperiment.htm#openingthebroodnest

:)

[specialkayme]

Just curious, do you know what the genetics are?

I've found Russians love to make those queen cups all over the place, for apparently no reason. It always makes me very nervous as I check each one for larva.

[asprince]

My "mutts" build them all the time.

Steve

[specialkayme]

My "mutts" build them all the time.

Steve

I would guess it would be the Russian in the 'mutts', although I could be wrong.

Italians, MH, and the Carniolans I had never made cups in the frequency that the Russians have. Just my observations though.