Queen and supercedure cells

[mickbees23]

I feel its wrong to suggest bees only build supercedure cells in certain areas of the brood nestand only in certain ways. It may be very true what you see your own bees do in your part of the country but that doesn't make it so for everyone else.

In my colonies supercedure doesn't occur very often but when it does occur it is almost always quite late in the year between the end of Aug and late October. They rarely build more than 3 queen cells and are almost always towards the centre and in the middle of the brood nest, although I did find one once on the very last frame all by itself with no other brood. I have never found more than 5 supercedure cells.

Now this doesn't mean I am right and you are wrong, it just means as usual bees do different things as and how they feel like doing them and we for the most part just interfere.

 

[Eyeman]

I feel its wrong to suggest bees only build supercedure cells in certain areas of the brood nestand only in certain ways. It may be very true what you see your own bees do in your part of the country but that doesn't make it so for everyone else.

In my colonies supercedure doesn't occur very often but when it does occur it is almost always quite late in the year between the end of Aug and late October. They rarely build more than 3 queen cells and are almost always towards the centre and in the middle of the brood nest, although I did find one once on the very last frame all by itself with no other brood. I have never found more than 5 supercedure cells.

Now this doesn't mean I am right and you are wrong, it just means as usual bees do different things as and how they feel like doing them and we for the most part just interfere.

To read what's going on in a brood box you rarely need to inspect more than 3 brood frames +/- tilt the box and look underneath. Much quicker and less distruption to the colony. No wonder I only seem to the see the end results of any supercedure.

 

[masterBK]

Sometimes bees leave it too late when they try to supersede. By the time this colony produced a supersedure cell their queen was only laying unfertilised eggs

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I feel its wrong to suggest bees only build supercedure cells in certain areas of the brood nestand only in certain ways.

Precisely - which is the point I'm trying to make.

 

[mickbees23]

Sometimes bees leave it too late when they try to supersede. By the time this colony produced a supersedure cell their queen was only laying unfertilised eggs

This Spring in my 1st inspection of the year I opened a colony to find a different Queen, (eggs and BIAS) unmarked and unclipped so definitely not the old girl. Last time they were inspected was 25th October 2017 and the old queen was present, so I have no idea where she came from. I rather fancy she was a supercedure which must have been just 1 or 2 cells that I somehow missed and was cohabiting with her mother and I never saw her because as soon as you see the old marked queen you tend to stop looking for one.

On another note I did have a colony at the end of last year with mother and daughter living side by side quite happily. Come the spring the daughter was missing and the old queen still stomping around. Maybe the young queen was unmated.

Cheers, Mick.