Capped queen cells no eggs

[Cedar]

Hi all, inspected hive today, found lots of brood in all stages but no eggs, to cap it all found 4 capped QC's and the queen.
What would you do!

 

[Hivemaker.]

What would you do!

Kill the queen.

 

[susbees]

Kill the queen.

Erm...care to explain?

Quickest would be to take frame with queen and make a nuc - ask if you don't know how. Leave one open queen cell, well fed with large larva. If there are four capped there will be more...look hard. Go back in four/five days and knock down any emergency cells - again look hard. Don't shake the frame with the cell when looking for cells.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Erm...care to explain?

No, i don't think i do.

 

[Midland Beek]

I would guess your bees are about to swarm. If there are more than just four queen cells, like half a dozen or more - maybe you missed the other queen cells - they are definitely wanting to swarm.

Time to do your swarm control procedure. The one you swotted up on in your beekeeping book.

 

[enrico]

Hi all, inspected hive today, found lots of brood in all stages but no eggs, to cap it all found 4 capped QC's and the queen.
What would you do!

You ask what we would do! Have you any ideas? I do hope so because this is what you should have been prepared for when you checked the hive and you should have had everything ready to deal with it should you find it....which you did!
For the record I would do what susbees says. Queen in a nuc, leave one good queen cell in old hive on old site and use any others for splits if you want them otherwise destroy.
It is so important you try and think what you might find BEFORE you go in to the hive and try and have stuff there to deal with it. Hard but important!
Good luck
E

 

[oliver90owner]

found lots of brood in all stages but no eggs

Clearly not!

 

[Arfermo]

Hi all, inspected hive today, found lots of brood in all stages but no eggs, to cap it all found 4 capped QC's and the queen.
What would you do!

Ambiguous statement surely !!! BIAS includes eggs I thought.

 

[Finman]

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Eggs stays 3 days old. If you have no eggs, the queen has swarmed 3 days ago.

.

 

[Langstroth]

Why has nearly every relpy to this thread been terse or antagonistic? The person has asked a simple question and really doesn't deserve the flak for getting the definition of 'BIAS' slightly wrong.

If you still have the queen and capped cells then they could be thinking of supersedure rather than swarming.

Do what susbees said and make up a nuc with the old queen and leave the bulk of the bees with the very best cell you can find. Good luck.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Why has nearly every relpy to this thread been terse or antagonistic?

Hardly.
If the OP had outlined a plan of their own instead of just asking for one (which is what it sounds like) I'm sure replies would have been much more helpful.
I'm in my fourth year beekeeping, I've made loads of mistakes but I've read and read as well as trying to get varied practical experience. Whenever I go to the hives I have plans; you can't do an inspection come across a problem and expect somebody to solve it for you.
It's all very well talking the talk but you have to walk the walk too.

 

[stephenpug]

Hardly.
If the OP had outlined a plan of their own instead of just asking for one (which is what it sounds like) I'm sure replies would have been much more helpful.
I'm in my fourth year beekeeping, I've made loads of mistakes but I've read and read as well as trying to get varied practical experience. Whenever I go to the hives I have plans; you can't do an inspection come across a problem and expect somebody to solve it for you.
It's all very well talking the talk but you have to walk the walk too.

it is very hard to ask for advise when all you get is unhelpful comments and responses like yours which will stop people asking questions and reduce the need for a forum i am already thinking of packing this forum up because of some of the acid comments

 

[oliver90owner]

really doesn't deserve the flak for getting the definition of 'BIAS' slightly wrong.

No flak, just fact. Little wonder that the next new beek that tells us that (believing from reading it on the forum either now or much later) would be misleading and might finish up with duff replies because the responders were totally misled. It is a simple and basic term, after all.

 

[Finman]

.
If you guys really try to find something postive, when a laying queen is gone, carry on. Try to be honest even to yourself.

- No eggs.
- Queen is there, queen is there

- if it is there, it is sick, and cannot lay any more.

 

[theboynelson]

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Eggs stays 3 days old. If you have no eggs, the queen has swarmed 3 days ago.

.

I was under the impression that the queen a few days prior to swarming would likely stop laying, in a bid to slim down for the flight. Therefore if there were no eggs she could still be around.

 

[Finman]

I was under the impression that the queen a few days prior to swarming would likely stop laying, in a bid to slim down for the flight. Therefore if there were no eggs she could still be around.

It does not go that way. It reduces laying, but does not stop

 

[enrico]

Why has nearly every relpy to this thread been terse or antagonistic? The person has asked a simple question and really doesn't deserve the flak for getting the definition of 'BIAS' slightly wrong.

If you still have the queen and capped cells then they could be thinking of supersedure rather than swarming.

Do what susbees said and make up a nuc with the old queen and leave the bulk of the bees with the very best cell you can find. Good luck.

I will be the first to apologise if you believe my answer is terse. I was just trying to say that it is important that beekeepers make plans before going in to the hive. It is hard to find a kinder way to say that! sorry if I caused you offence langstroth, I hope the original poster did not read it in the same way you did!
E

 

[Langstroth]

Enrico, to be honest your answer was one of the better ones. As to you, oliver90owner, there is a way of communicating with people that is helpful and a way which is not. If this person was in the same room as you and asked your advice face to face I can garrentee that you would give a fully rounded, thought out answer not just "Clearly Not". This is a forum where people come to get advice because not everyone is an 'expert' so if you are going to post why not give a decent reply without all the attitude?

 

[AmyB]

it is very hard to ask for advise when all you get is unhelpful comments and responses like yours which will stop people asking questions and reduce the need for a forum i am already thinking of packing this forum up because of some of the acid comments

This seems to be happening more and more on here. Everyday it seems someone has to post this response and the attitude always comes from the same individuals. What gets me is if you can't give a nice and helpful response without the attitude why bother posting in the first place? If your tired of answering the same questions or think the person is asking stupid questions or too lazy to research just keep your opinions to yourself and don't post.

To cedar, if you can find the queen again, I would do as the others said, pop her in a nuc and go from there. If shes no good you can always recombine.

 

[Finman]

Hi all, inspected hive today, found lots of brood in all stages but no eggs, to cap it all found 4 capped QC's and the queen.
What would you do!

What special is in that situation

- first swarm uses to leave when queen cells are capped
- second leaves when first virgin emerges

- the most important sign, that swarm is gone, is that there are no eggs.

- if the queen is clipped, the swarm returns to hone after 30 minutes and wait that virgin is ready to fly.

These are main principles in beekeeping

.Why things should be otherwise that they are

The queen, a virgin or a slim mated queen, or swelled abdomen.

4 queen cells in the hive does not sound like swarming. It seems more supercede. In swarming the hive has often 10-15 queen cells, even in a small colony.

A swelled queen and no laying sounds nosema or some another sickness of queen, and that is why the colony rearer new queens.

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