Advice please

[Mikeb123]

Ok so just done a quick inspection on both hives and in hive 1 found a number of charged cells and one capped. Now as the cell is capped they should have gone right? They haven't as they still plenty in there judging from the last inspection . weather has been good but a tad cold so would this stop them from swarming?
and lastly these cells were along the side, bottom and a group of three on the face of the comb (one of which is the capped one).. so am I looking at they want to swarm or supercede :/

New queen last June, space to lay still, plenty of bias and room for the bees.
Thanks

 

[burren]

Hi mikeb123
When was your last inspection? When did you last see the queen?
burren

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

With that many QC's doesn't matter where they are I'd say they are on the point of swarming. Did you conduct an A/S ? if not, I bet the next time you look they will have gone.

 

[beeno]

Hi Mike,
In this situation the only sure way of knowing if they have swarmed or not is to find the queen or not as may very well be the case. I would assume they are swarm cells and act accordingly.

 

[Mikeb123]

Last inspection was last Saturday and haven't had time until today. Seen queen in both today.
will they only swarm when the conditions are right regardless of when they cap the cell?

 

[Thymallus]

There's a tendency to delay swarming in cold or wet weather.
As Jenkins rightly says they are on the verge, find the queen and AS ASAP.

 

[Dishmop]

Last inspection was last Saturday and haven't had time until today. Seen queen in both today.
will they only swarm when the conditions are right regardless of when they cap the cell?

Probably when you least expect them to..

 

[badger65]

I have 5 capped queen cells. I have seen the queen but no eggs. I am assuming supercedure as they have plenty of room. Do you have eggs?

 

[Mikeb123]

Yes plenty of eggs!

 

[badger65]

If the weather has been OK. I know it has been in Hampshire. I would have expected them to have gone if they where going to go. Did you see queen cells on your earlier inspection. How long do you think it has been capped? How many frames of bees do you have and how much brood.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I have 5 capped queen cells. I have seen the queen but no eggs. I am assuming supercedure as they have plenty of room. Do you have eggs?

5 QC's, no eggs I'd 'assume' their bags are packed and they're waiting for someone to press the 'go' button.
And just because there's still eggs on a hive don't assume they are not going to swarm imminently.
To quote that classic filum Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

'assumption is the brother of all fcuk ups'​

 

[badger65]

They have been like it for days. The weather has been good and they have not gone. The current queen was an emergency QC from last year. She's probably a dud.

 

[beeno]

Another possibility is that the QCs are dud?

 

[Hebeegeebee]

If you're unsure if it's supercedure you can clip the queen. If they try to go, it's not supercedure but you have retained your bees.

 

[beeno]

This time of the year I would do AS PDQ as your virgins will have trouble getting mated in this weather. You may end up Q- as they need 20C+ flying weather for that.

 

[user 6228]

To summarise, its either supercedure or swarm or both or nothing, with swarm as the favourite but not a certainty, and "nothing" the least likely but not impossible. Make sure you cover all possibilities because any of them might occur.
If this looks like decision by commitee, thats because it is.
Bee behaviour is probabalistic not determinstic, i.e. few absolute certainies. that why they are so successful.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bee behaviour is probabalistic not determinstic, i.e. few absolute certainies. that why they are so successful.

Possibly