Multiple eggs in comb

[Achy]

Hello,

I checked on stores this morning and picked a couple of random frames, all full of uncapped stores...

Not much in the way of room or eggs, but some capped brood and larvae.

On the bottom of one frame they had built some comb and I found eggs in it... Some cells had one egg bang in the middle, but some had 2, 3 or 4 eggs in them.

I had a quick panic thinking I'd lost the queen and had a laying worker... But nope found the queen wandering around.

I had taken ApiGuard off last weekend so has this maybe upset her laying routine?
I've been feeding them sugar syrup this week as last week's check showed them as very low.(all seems ok now).
Or lack of room for laying?

Any ideas on what she's playing at or if I've got a rogue layer?
Any advice what to do now?
Leave them to get in with it?
Add a super underneath to give the queen room to lay?

 

[Millet]

It looks like a laying worker to me.

 

[Achy]

As the queen is still present, does indicate she's failing?

Or how's this for a theory...

ApiGuard put the queen off laying
Worker started playing due to lack of brood.
ApiGuard removed and queen started laying again.

Would that make sense?

 

[charlievictorbravo]

It looks like a laying worker to me.

Does to me too but there is a queen there. Is it possible that the Thymol in the Apiguard was so strong that it masked the queen's pheromone. Some of the workers thought she was gone and hence developed into laying workers? I've not heard of it happening but it's a possible explanation. Now that the Apiguard is removed, things should return to normal.

One other possible explanation is that the queen is short of laying space and has put multiple eggs in a partially constructed comb cell to give the workers the 'hurry up'. I have heard of workers moving eggs about the comb.

All speculation but an interesting situation for discussion.

CVB

 

[enrico]

You have the queen, I wouldn't worry at all!
E

 

[beeno]

At this juncture, I would stop feeding temporarily, so that the workers can fan off the water and consolidate their stores thus making room for the queen to get going laying again. Then little and often, she needs to lay your winter bees. Have they got any stored pollen? I guess you have not got an empty brood frame? How old is the queen? You have got a queen and open brood, so no need to think laying workers yet.

 

[Achy]

I have removed the feed, i can see them bringing in plenty of pollen, Ivy I think, they have some pollen stores, not lots, but some.

I have got a spare foundation only frame, not drawn. I suppose I could swap a frame of stores out, let them draw if they want to and to give the queen some space to lay.

Queen is last year, 2017.

 

[masterBK]

young queens often lay more than one egg per cell if the workers haven't prepared enough cells for her. See it regularly in apideas soon after the queen has mated and started laying

 

[madasafish]

Heard a local report the same issue. I assumed queen off lay due lack of forage, started again out of practise?