Sealed queen cells no queen to be seen

[Allie M]

I have done the course, read the books, watched the videos but still feel very unprepared for the reality of beekeeping, even though I am loving it!

Today when I inspected the hive I split from the main one as part of swarm prevention (so with the 'old' queen) I found plenty of sealed brood, but no eggs or larvae and 5 queen cells - all sealed. I couldn't find the queen, who had been marked. There are only 8 frames in there at present as I was building it up slowly, but still plenty of room for expansion so I wasn't expecting a swarm and there still seem to be a lot of bees in there (but know this doesn't mean they haven't swarmed). I have been feeding them as stores seemed light. I kept what I thought was the best queen cell and knocked down the rest, marking the frame this was on. I inspected last week - didn't notice any queen cells and didn't see the queen, thought I saw BIAS but with hindsight maybe not. I'm kicking myself for being a bit complacent and not checking everything more thoroughly.

My question is whether to have another look (when?) to double check there are no more queen cells or leave well alone for three weeks? If nothing is doing in three weeks, would it be better to unite with the original hive (which has a new queen who seems to be doing very well) or to try a frame of brood in the new hive?

 

[Boston Bees]

I have done the course, read the books, watched the videos but still feel very unprepared for the reality of beekeeping, even though I am loving it!

Today when I inspected the hive I split from the main one as part of swarm prevention (so with the 'old' queen) I found plenty of sealed brood, but no eggs or larvae and 5 queen cells - all sealed. I couldn't find the queen, who had been marked. There are only 8 frames in there at present as I was building it up slowly, but still plenty of room for expansion so I wasn't expecting a swarm and there still seem to be a lot of bees in there (but know this doesn't mean they haven't swarmed). I have been feeding them as stores seemed light. I kept what I thought was the best queen cell and knocked down the rest, marking the frame this was on. I inspected last week - didn't notice any queen cells and didn't see the queen, thought I saw BIAS but with hindsight maybe not. I'm kicking myself for being a bit complacent and not checking everything more thoroughly.

My question is whether to have another look (when?) to double check there are no more queen cells or leave well alone for three weeks? If nothing is doing in three weeks, would it be better to unite with the original hive (which has a new queen who seems to be doing very well) or to try a frame of brood in the new hive?

Out of interest, whereabouts were the queen cells? Were they all drawn out from existing worker cells i.e. like emergency cells? Or were they hanging vertically downwards from the comb i.e. deliberately built queen cells.

 

[Allie M]

I’m not entirely sure. They just looked like queen cells to me, on two frames at the edges. I rejected the best and largest one as it was almost on the actual frame rather than the comb so would have been easily damaged. The others were smaller and I hopefully kept the best one

 

[Nbw]

I would be interested in when to check as I am in th same boat.

Swarmed, lurched mated queen who was rejected and now have spit the colony with a charger cell in each. I expect my QC's to be emerging now. But I am unsure when to inspect

 

[Boston Bees]

I would be interested in when to check as I am in th same boat.

Swarmed, lurched mated queen who was rejected and now have spit the colony with a charger cell in each. I expect my QC's to be emerging now. But I am unsure when to inspect

3 weeks after the queen cell should have emerged, personally. Sometimes 2 weeks if I am feeling impatient, but 90% of the time I do that I wish I had waited 3 weeks.

 

[enrico]

This is another time to be patient. If you have done everything right to your satisfaction think about why you are inspecting! If everything goes right a queen will emerge, be mated and start laying, at the worst you will interfere with that cycle or damage the queen, at best you will see eggs and brood. Trust them. Allow at least three weeks, I allow a month, for them to get going without my interference! If, when I do inspect, things have gone drastically wrong I know it was not my fault and I will deal with whatever I find the best way I can. You can do more damage than good by inspecting to satisfy your curiosity!

 

[ericbeaumont]

I have been feeding them as stores seemed light

Feeding can reduce laying space and stimulate swarming. What do you mean by stores seemed light?

 

[Allie M]

There was a lot of sealed brood but only about a frame of stores, but maybe stop feeding?

 

[ericbeaumont]

8 frames in there at present as I was building it up slowly, but still plenty of room for expansion

8 frames of drawn comb, of brood, or bees?

One frame of stores between 7-day checks at this time of year will be OK, provided nectar is incoming. Blackberry is opening, moisture and sun are present, so yes, why feed?

To get bees to expand and give them work stick one foundation frame in the middle of the nest; repeat when they have drawn it until the whole box is drawn. If they run out of work they reckon the job is done and it's time to replicate.

I was building it up slowly

The bees were building it rapidly! Align your actions to the bees and the season, not the pace you prefer.

 

[ericbeaumont]

(when?) to double check there are no more queen cells

Once the queen has gone and QCs are present and even though you have reduced QCs to one, check again seven days later by shaking bees off frames (except the one with the chosen QC: use grass to brush them off) and remove further cells.

This second check is necessary because bees will use larvae from eggs laid just before the queen left to make further QCs, some swarm, some emergency, in the absence of the queen pheromone.

After that, leave well alone for at least three weeks. I have splits made nearly a month ago and had a peek yesterday: polished cells, no eggs. No cause for alarm.