Is this a sealed QC?

[Rob55]

Rehived an overwintered Nuc last week into a full size 14x12, noticed there were a couple of play cups which I took down but had nothing in them. First inspection today (9 days later) and I found another couple of queen cups, this time one was charged but only with a small amount of royal jelly so I assume it is not very old. Kept going with my inspection and found this, which looks a bit on the small size but I assume it is a sealed QC?

Seems kind of strange - the bees have barely moved onto the 5 fully drawn frames I added and they have very little stores. There was also a noticeable increase in drone brood. I assume my only option now is an Artificial swarm ASAP?

Crazy bees

Rob

 

[herefordshirehoney]

If it's charged it's an intent to swarm so pick your method not sure on small nucs assuming same rules apply.

 

[Nuc]

Is it not supercedure or emergency qc. That is my first thought but i'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[Rob55]

This queen is only from Sept 2012!

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Id check again tomorrow/sunday and if it has egg in it you know what todo. Hopefully they'll rip it down if she's ok .

 

[Nuc]

The weather last year was awfull as i'm sure you know. I believe a large number of queens were poorly mated. That could be why you have a large number of drones and the bees are trying for a new queen.

 

[VEG]

Looks like it is all ready sealed.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

The weather last year was awfull as i'm sure you know. I believe a large number of queens were poorly mated. That could be why you have a large number of drones and the bees are trying for a new queen.

As it's in the middle of the frame it *could* be supersedure so be very careful you dont damage it! A more experienced beekeeper hopefully will confirm this though.

 

[Nuc]

If your bees were swarmy they generally have a lot of Q cells. With just the one i would say emergency or supercedure. I would leave it be and see what happens. Do you have eggs present or have you seen the Q and is the Q clipped?

 

[Rob55]

I saw the queen when I transferred them into the nuc, she was in good looking shape and has filled out 6 frames in the nuc full of sealed brood. Unfortunately she is not marked so I did not see her today and tbh I am hopeless at spotting her!

 

[galileo]

Did you see HM last week when you did the move? Might she have been lost in the transfer?

It's an emergency cell by the look of it. If I saw that in mine, I'd be searching for Q and/or eggs. I'd put her in a holding nuc with a frame or two (and feed!) and wait things out. If she wasn't there, I'd leave well alone 'cos this sealed cell might be their last roll of the dice.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

This queen is only from Sept 2012!

2012 was not a good year for mating though - of the two 2012 queens I had in the apiary the September one went drone layer and dissappeared, the June one........................................ went drone layer and dissappeared

 

[Rob55]

My queen seems fine she filled all 6 frames in the nuc with brood.

So do you guys think I should just leave it alone and let the bees do their own thing? I really don't want to lose ANOTHER swarm

 

[Hachi]

If it is charged then no you can't leave it you must do something.

 

[flemage]

Looks like it’s got a hole in the end of it?

I am not sure… doesn’t look big enough but drawn like an emergency cell?

 

[Rob55]

It is definitely sealed but it is very small for a queen cell, the ones I had last year were huge by comparison. There is also one queen cup unsealed but charged (not pictured).

So whats the thoughts, supersedure or swarming? If I can't find the queen how do I go about doing an AS?

 

[beeno]

Hi Rob55,
Whatever the so called sealed QC with a hole in it is, pick it off and have a look. It is soo small it will not be any good anyhow. The move may have unsettled them. If she was good before the move she will be good after the move - find her or eggs. Get rid of any progressing QC and hopefully they give up with all the extra space you have given them. Probably not text book I know, but that's what I would do. Nice brood and clean comb. Come on pros where are you?

 

[Chris B]

It's an emergency cell. You can easily verify this by lack of eggs and young larvae in the colony. Once verified leave it alone unless you can get hold of a mated queen as a better alternative. A scrub queen is better than no queen.

(On the other hand, in the unlikely event you do find eggs, then knock off any queen cells. There's not much point splitting a 6 frame nuc).

 

[beeno]

It's an emergency cell. You can easily verify this by lack of eggs and young larvae in the colony. Once verified leave it alone unless you can get hold of a mated queen as a better alternative. A scrub queen is better than no queen.

(On the other hand, in the unlikely event you do find eggs, then knock off any queen cells. There's not much point splitting a 6 frame nuc).

Thanks Chris.

 

[Tom Bick]

I am glad Chris has said emergency cell and his advice is good (not that I am qualified to judge him)

I hope it produces a queen that will give you time and she may just turn out to be a great queen. But when I looked at the photo earlier today I thought it looked like a last minute desperation cell. I don’t know if you shook bees of the frame but I would have been more happy if the bees were showing interest in the cell. If you can get hold of a frame with eggs from another hive it may be worth seeing what the bees do with it.