Queen cell put in nuc .. next step

[Markthebuilder]

So after various shananagins, I now have 1 x 6 frame & 2 x 3 frame nucs 12x14
Each has a caped queen cell, 23/6 plenty of stores some capped brood and some nurse bees.
What do I do next time scale wise … sitting on my hands at the moment.

I have 1 wbc hive dubious queen
1 split now in 8 frame box hopefully has a virgin about 2 weeks ahead of the nucs
A spare national hive
A strong 14x12 hive with 2 suppers built up from a 2020 over winters nuc
And a spare 14x12 with flying bees from the above shananagins.

 

[Ian123]

I’ve got a batch that hatched this Saturday, with the good weather forecast I’ll expect to find some/most mated and laying after the first couple of weeks. I’ll have a quick look after emergence to try and assess if there’s any duds, I can rectify with other cells but that’s it for a week or so.

 

[madasafish]

You wait roughly a month, checking stores and not diturbing virgin Qs on mating fights.

 

[Do224]

You wait roughly a month, checking stores and not diturbing virgin Qs on mating fights.

Once eggs are seen is that the queen properly mated or is it possible she’ll still be heading out on mating flights?

 

[Erichalfbee]

No. That’s it. She’s imprisoned till her daughters starve her and push her out in a swarm.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

No harm in checking that the queens have emerged from their queencells - and a look for the virgin queen (although they can be difficult to spot). After a couple of weeks you can check again to see if she has mated. Polished cells where the queen would be expected to lay is a good indication that a queen is there. But don't inspect between 10 am and 6 pm on a good weather day as the queen might be doing her nuptuals and if she get back to the hive and you're there messing about, she might get confused and not return.

 

[rolande]

Each has a caped queen cell, 23/6

What does 23/6 refer to, grafting day?

 

[Markthebuilder]

Day I put caped qc in nuc.. I’m afraid I don’t know how old the cells were as on reflection the previous inspection I only checked the ncenter brood frames for eggs

 

[rolande]

Day I put caped qc in nuc.. I’m afraid I don’t know how old the cells were as on reflection the previous inspection I only checked the ncenter brood frames for eggs

Got it, my question was simply the result of my own confusion with "Each has a caped queen cell, 23/6". I thought that you meant the nucs still had capped cells at the time of writing...

Check they've emerged. No point in leaving a unit with a failed cell to dwindle away

 

[Markthebuilder]

Well checked tonight about 7pm warm sunney eavening .
The nuc seams to be doing fine polishing up comb etc the QC was there with the end neatly guliteend off ie perfectly round hole…. Didnt see anything queen like but lots of bees and signs of remaining brood hatching. Some nectar & pollen etc where it should be

1/2 of the 2x3 frame nuc seamed very short of bees compared to the other half which was loaded with bees by comparison . The QC was gone and all brood had hatched leaving lots of clean open comb. By contrast the other half was brimming with bees probably too many had lots of capped brood still to come with some emerging the QC was still sealed but looked like the end and side were being chewed away (rough texture)
on instinct I took a punt and removed the cortex divider to form a single nuc.

I Would like critique on this action. It may have been too soon for such a decision but and I probably should of asked for advice first but my gut told me there were simply too many bees for half a nuc and my landlord skills are probably not up to running a HMO.

In the
My original queen appears be laying a decent pattern with 2 additional sides of brood capped. to have laid up a couple of frames and no further qc have appeared so we will see how she goes.,

for me the best bit was all the above was done with just a vail no gloves and no smoke other than to get the lids back on .

 

[rolande]

the QC was still sealed but looked like the end and side were being chewed away (rough texture)
on instinct I took a punt and removed the cortex divider to form a single nuc

No idea if what you did was right, but if the Queen cell was genuinely still sealed (and not simply giving that impression because it had closed over after the Queen had got out) then you can be confident that it was a dud. Only way to know would have been to rip it apart to check - wasn't going to be viable so wouldn't have mattered.

All that said, as someone who uses twin mating nucs, pulling the division boards and letting the Queen right half sort the failed one out for a week before returning the division and adding a new cell is one of our most useful tools. But you do really need to know what's going on in the potentially Queenless side.

Another very useful trick is to leave the two units uncovered for a few minutes. If one side is definitely Queenless and has no way of fixing the problem you'll see them, more often than not, start a quite orderly exodus over the division board where they happily join the Queen right side. It's quite something to see. If they don't make any attempt to join their neighbours I'm inclined to give them another week because they're not ready to join so they probably know more than me.

 

[Markthebuilder]

Thanks for reply and info. I’m trying but not very good at….
A) Asking advice before I act.
B) reducing my inspection frequency so bees have time to Do their thing.
C) stop fiddling.

 

[Markthebuilder]

well on the basis that I think the VQs should have emerged by the 1st July so . By my reckoning any vq has had 2 weeks of good weather. I decided to check my nucs… No sign of eggs or brood but cells were been filled with nectar .
I have therefore put a test frame in each of the nucs and will check again Sunday . My decision was influenced by the fact that I have the opportunity to buy some good queens next week and I’m going away for a couple of weeks on 5 August so I would like to have all sorted so they can all enjoy a fortnight without my interference . of getting good queens n

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just because they can mate less than three weeks from emerging, doesn't mean they will. you need to give them time to settle. Be patient

 

[Markthebuilder]

I will try

 

[oliver90owner]

Once eggs are seen is that the queen properly mated or is it possible she’ll still be heading out on mating flights?

Be honest. Have you ever read a book on beekeeping? I doubt there is any decent beekeeping book that does not cover this in the first couple of chapters.

 

[Do224]

Be honest. Have you ever read a book on beekeeping? I doubt there is any decent beekeeping book that does not cover this in the first couple of chapters.

Haha, yeah I’ve read a couple.

Some people seem to say that the queen goes on a mating flight while others say ‘mating flights’ plural.

So what I was asking is would the queen go on a mating flight and then come back and start laying eggs before going out on a few more mating flights to top up her ‘sperm bank’...

 

[RichardK]

Be honest. Have you ever read a book on beekeeping? I doubt there is any decent beekeeping book that does not cover this in the first couple of chapters.

Have you never heard of a nyphomaniac queen??

 

[Ian123]

Haha, yeah I’ve read a couple.

Some people seem to say that the queen goes on a mating flight while others say ‘mating flights’ plural.

So what I was asking is would the queen go on a mating flight and then come back and start laying eggs before going out on a few more mating flights to top up her ‘sperm bank’...

No it’s normally accepted that once she’s up and laying that’s it!

 

[Markthebuilder]

SMALL QUEEN,
Checked the 2 Nucs that I put test frames in.
Nuc 1 nothing happening on the test frame still some v small pupi and unlike the other nuc bees seam to be keeping some areas of cells clear and polished. Then I saw a few eggs on the next frame so rechecked the test frame and spotted a small ..to my eyes queen ….. maybe a stupid question but will she get bigger.?

nuc 2 a lot more bees in here and filling all frames with nectar . Drawing out test frame with 5 Qs which I have taken down . New Northumberland dark queen due Tuesday.