Tim.S
House Bee
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2013
- Messages
- 318
- Reaction score
- 39
- Location
- Chichester
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- More than I used to have.
I went through the hives last night - all seemed well until I got to my single hive of Buckfast bees. On splitting the two boxes ( it was on a brood and a half, very full and I am getting all my b and a halves on to double broods by moving the Qe down and putting a box under ) I must have disturbed what looked like a Qc and unfortunately broke it as the two boxes came apart. On further inspection there were no eggs visible only capped brood and a few large grubs. No sign of a Q (2 years old) that I saw either, so the question is this:-
If the Qc was a supercedure cell, and the only one, is the old queen likely to still be hiding in the box somewhere and capable of laying more eggs to provide another cell, or could she have been bumped off by the workers? My knowledge of the supercedure process is not as good as it should be, strangely in 5 years of beekeeping this is the first time I have come across it. Thanks in anticipation!
If the Qc was a supercedure cell, and the only one, is the old queen likely to still be hiding in the box somewhere and capable of laying more eggs to provide another cell, or could she have been bumped off by the workers? My knowledge of the supercedure process is not as good as it should be, strangely in 5 years of beekeeping this is the first time I have come across it. Thanks in anticipation!