Polished cells?

[RJC]

I have/had a queen less hive. It has no brood at all, but has lots of polished cells, and evidence of torn down Q cells. There are plenty of stores. It was Q right when I started Aplife var, 8 weeks ago and I had not checked in the interim. The bees are calm, and my instinct is that there is a queen in there, but not laying - either a virgin, or newly mated. (There are still one or two drones in the colony). I have other colonies, so could merge it, but i'm wary given there may be a Q present. How much longer should I wait before merging to see if the Q (if present) utilises the polished cells? I guess thew question is how good an indication are polished dells that there is a Q present and about to lay? Thanks. Rob

 

[ericbeaumont]

how good an indication are polished dells that there is a Q present

Reasonably good, but put in a test frame of eggs & larvae and check after 4 days.

Absence of QCs will not prove that the colony is queenless (bees are awkward and don't always draw QCs), but QCs will do so.

At this stage - if they are queenless - you could buy a queen or unite.

 

[RJC]

Reasonably good, but put in a test frame of eggs & larvae and check after 4 days.

Absence of QCs will not prove that the colony is queenless (bees are awkward and don't always draw QCs), but QCs will do so.

At this stage - if they are queenless - you could buy a queen or unite.

Thanks Eric. I looked again yesterday and there are newly laid eggs, so hopefully all is well. We'll see in the spring.