Drone laying Queen / supersedure

[Eddie_H]

New queen must not have mated properly. She is laying in good pattern but the only cells sealed are Drone brood. Very very few workers.

New Queen cells have started. Bees obviously know there’s a problem with her

My question is .....

If this is supersedure , will the DL Queen fly off with a swarm? Or will she remain in the hive until a new Queen emerges?

I mean, what’s the point in her flying off if she’s not mated/ laying properly? Surely she won’t coax any bees to go with her if they know she won’t be able to keep a swarmed colony going?

Would I need to take action... or will they just supersede her without any problems??

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I think a bigger worry for you is are any QC's going to be viable.
Usually with supersedure, there is no swarming, they just deal with the old queen once the new one is proven.

 

[Eddie_H]

I think a bigger worry for you is are any QC's going to be viable.
Usually with supersedure, there is no swarming, they just deal with the old queen once the new one is proven.

Yes.... I wondered about that myself. Obviously drone eggs can’t be made into Queen cells??

I’m sure there’s more worker eggs/larvae there, but mostly the cells that are sealed are drones. But as I say , the laying pattern is good.. so. It’s obviously not Laying Workers....

 

[Erichalfbee]

Indeed
Are those QCs made in drone brood?
They will be hopeless
I would find her and replace her or unite the bees to another colony

 

[thedozzer]

Hi Eddie
As Erica points out, think then they will need a test frame of eggs from another colony to make any new QC's viable, its our first year but you can tell when its a good charged QC as you can see a nice big fat juicy grub floating in it own private sea of royal jelly.

As JB points out, if the bees consider it a supersedure they will deal with the old queen.
but if you want to hurry the process up and stop the drone laying you could dispatch HM at the same time, the only down side is that if there is a lack of brood pheromone you can end up with laying workers.

the little darlings do like giving us new puzzles to figure out all the time.

 

[Eddie_H]

Hi Eddie
As Erica points out, think then they will need a test frame of eggs from another colony to make any new QC's viable, its our first year but you can tell when its a good charged QC as you can see a nice big fat juicy grub floating in it own private sea of royal jelly.

As JB points out, if the bees consider it a supersedure they will deal with the old queen.
but if you want to hurry the process up and stop the drone laying you could dispatch HM at the same time, the only down side is that if there is a lack of brood pheromone you can end up with laying workers.

the little darlings do like giving us new puzzles to figure out all the time.

What is HM? Her majesty?


Yes I think a test frame is the best plan. Gain a QC or two from fresh eggs , and proceed from there

QC there at present looks fairly good , but.. since the majority of brood seems to be drones, I would Be taking a chance hoping that QC will be a good one ..

 

[thedozzer]

What is HM? Her majesty?


Yes I think a test frame is the best plan. Gain a QC or two from fresh eggs , and proceed from there

QC there at present looks fairly good , but.. since the majority of brood seems to be drones, I would Be taking a chance hoping that QC will be a good one ..

Hi Eddie
yes HM = Her Majesty
How long has the Queen been laying for? as we did have what we though was a drone layer for about 4 weeks turn good, and is now nearly filling 11 frames of 14x12 with brood, she has over taken her mum and she was no slouch.
we gave them test frames for 3 weeks but only on the last one did they produced one QC so think the colony was getting a bit unhappy and they still have a lot more drones than normal 2 months on.

but others have seen their hives slowly dwindle while waiting, so its always going to be a bit of a risk paying the waiting game!

 

[Eddie_H]

Hi Eddie
yes HM = Her Majesty
How long has the Queen been laying for? as we did have what we though was a drone layer for about 4 weeks turn good, and is now nearly filling 11 frames of 14x12 with brood, she has over taken her mum and she was no slouch.
we gave them test frames for 3 weeks but only on the last one did they produced one QC so think the colony was getting a bit unhappy and they still have a lot more drones than normal 2 months on.

but others have seen their hives slowly dwindle while waiting, so its always going to be a bit of a risk paying the waiting game!

Been laying about 2 weeks.

Yeah,was thinking it’s risky to wait on her potentially coming good..


(Have another new Q in a nuc, similar age and she’s doing great.)

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Hi Eddie


As JB points out, if the bees consider it a supersedure they will deal with the old queen.
but if you want to hurry the process up and stop the drone laying you could dispatch HM at the same time, the only down side is that if there is a lack of brood pheromone you can end up with laying workers.
.

If the queen is producing some worker brood, removing the queen will result in emergence queencells being produced from them. Supercedure happens this time of year - so should be no problem. If you are truly worried about the queen being pushed out to swarm, you could have a go at clipping her wing. If you've never done it before, now is a good time to practice as she is a duff one in any case so if you mess it up, it's not a problem!