late swarm

[stenibee]

one of my hives swarmed today. managed to recover it in nuc box. inspected 4 out of 8 hive and not found any queen cells. will do other 4 tomorrow. stung on arse for my troubles. the joys:

 

[oliver90owner]

There is the (fairly) remote possibility that it may be an old queen leaving with some workers after what started out as a supercedure. The sting, wherever it may have occurred, is all part of beekeeping; suit up better next time?

 

[enrico]

Sounds like a bum deal to me
Had to be said!
E

 

[stenibee]

will that mean there will be a virgin queen in one of the hive or will it be queen less?

 

[enrico]

There should be a virgin there somewhere!
E

 

[beeno]

Thanks for the swarm warning. Me thinks there is going to be a lot of late swarming this year. As a matter of interest how large was the swarm?

 

[oliver90owner]

will that mean there will be a virgin queen in one of the hive or will it be queen less?

When a colony swarms, it leaves behind a viable queen cell, or another virgin queen, normally.

It would only be queenless if the colony absconded for some reason.

If it were an old queen, leaving after supercedure, a mated laying queen would be left behind - bees are not so stupid as to get rid of the old queen without a replacement being present - in that situation.