A bit confused........again

[StephenT]

This is Hive 1 that swarmed on 13/4 (swarm since re-housed), new Q emerged about 25/4 and her laying has been a bit poor in quantity, pattern and having drone brood mixed in with the worker brood. One QC found on 30/5 (sealed I think) and assume about ready to emerge when we checked again on 6/6. Left them to it as assumed supersedure. Checked again this morning and there was 2 QC's that seemed to have emerged although not with a nice cap taken off, 1 capped and 1 open / charged (a decent size so not just charged). There was a small amount of eggs and fresh larvae but the bees were particularly feisty for what is normally a placid hive and I thought that the supers did feel a bit lighter. We found and Nuc'd the white queen but have left the remaining 2 QC's as is for the moment. Could this just be a supersedure or will they probably swarm with the next virgin to emerge, although there may well have been a new Q in there that we didn't spot. Am finding it rather stressful at times this season and any insights would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[The Poot]

Perhaps poor mating in May - wet and windy weather? So supercedure would be my guess and leaving the two queen cells in place would be sensible, if indeed it is supercedure.
Guessing though....

 

[enrico]

Honestly? All you can do is sit and wait! If they were mine I would leave them be for a month or so and then see what has happened. You have other hives so ........

 

[StephenT]

Honestly? All you can do is sit and wait! If they were mine I would leave them be for a month or so and then see what has happened. You have other hives so ........

Thanks. That’s what we were minded to do. Will post an update when it pans out.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Could this just be a supersedure or will they probably swarm with the next virgin to emerge

At this point in the season they're quite likely to swarm on supersedure. At the beginning or end of the season no action would be needed, but to leave two QCs now...

You could wait until both are sealed and make up a 3-frame nuc with one cell.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

If you have removed the queen, the colony will now draw emergency queencells as it's not supercedure any more. (Been there, done that). So you will need to ensure that your selected queencell emerges without the emergencies or you might lose the first queen out to a swarm with a later q/c giving the colony it's queen.
Existing queens can destroy queencells, (actually, they kill the daughter and then the workers break down the cell) if they are not quite ready for regicide.

 

[StephenT]

An update. Inspected them today for the first time since 15 June and shed loads of eggs and larvae a few days old. Didn’t delve too deep to try and find the queen. Reckon it was a supersedure and still have the previously poorly laying queen in a nuc.

 

[enrico]

An update. Inspected them today for the first time since 15 June and shed loads of eggs and larvae a few days old. Didn’t delve too deep to try and find the queen. Reckon it was a supersedure and still have the previously poorly laying queen in a nuc.

Patience is so often the answer!!! Well done