QCs in an overwintered nuc

[Swiftgrade]

Hi,
I installed an overwintered nuc (bought from BS Honey Bees) in its new hive about 14 days ago.

I inspected today and discovered that they have drawnout about 3.5 new frames. I saw BIAS and found the queen.

On the first newly drawn there were a cluster of queen cups in the centre of the frame. On some of the older frames I found two sealed QCs at the bottom.

My initial reaction was to assume that this was unlikely to be swarming given that the colony is small and has plenty of space. I assumed from the QCs being drawn in the centre of the frame that this was actually a supersedure and that the bees have decided that their year old queen is actually past it. Does that sound plausible or is this actually more likely to be swarming in action? Any tips on management? I closed up leaving everything unchanged whilst I work out how to proceed.
Thanks!

 

[Boston Bees]

Hi,
I installed an overwintered nuc (bought from BS Honey Bees) in its new hive about 14 days ago.

I inspected today and discovered that they have drawnout about 3.5 new frames. I saw BIAS and found the queen.

On the first newly drawn there were a cluster of queen cups in the centre of the frame. On some of the older frames I found two sealed QCs at the bottom.

My initial reaction was to assume that this was unlikely to be swarming given that the colony is small and has plenty of space. I assumed from the QCs being drawn in the centre of the frame that this was actually a supersedure and that the bees have decided that their year old queen is actually past it. Does that sound plausible or is this actually more likely to be swarming in action? Any tips on management? I closed up leaving everything unchanged whilst I work out how to proceed.
Thanks!

Did you see the queen, or eggs?

If you didn't, sealed QCs suggest she may already have gone

Did you inspect a week ago? Or is the most recent inspection 14 days ago?

 

[Swiftgrade]

I saw the queen today. I inspected 7 days ago (and also saw the queen) and saw some queen cups but nothing built up or layed in. They looked like play cups at that time.

 

[Mint Bee]

could be either TBH. Only real way to test is to perform an artificial swarm of your choice and see if the Q+ portion tries to produced more queen cells to supersede. Colony size and space are for guidance only- bees will do what they feel is best
If they do swarm or supersede, don't fancy the chances of getting a good queen mated, with probable lack of mature drones in your area. Weather not set to get much above 15 in the next few weeks in Cumbria. Only just getting to see a decent number of drones appearing down south.
If you do split, at least you have the option to either recombine that halves, and/or re queen if the bees reject their current queen.

 

[Boston Bees]

I saw the queen today. I inspected 7 days ago (and also saw the queen) and saw some queen cups but nothing built up or layed in. They looked like play cups at that time.

I would guess they are swarming, or at least assume that as a worst case scenario. With capped queen cells they could go at any minute and probably haven't already done so only because of the cooler weather. The first burst of sunshine and they could be off. I would get that queen in a nuc rapidly, personally.

 

[Swiftgrade]

Many thanks indeed. I have followed your advice.