supercedure what is it

[Rose of Jericho]

As a newcomer living in France and with our main reference in French can someone please explain the term "supercedure".

 

[Erichalfbee]

Replacement of a queen bee that has grown old or weak by a new one. By the bees not the beekeeper.
Queen cells tend to be on the face of a frame and small in number whereas swarm cells tend to be at the bottom of the frames and large in number.
BUT not always!

 

[Davelin]

Being a pedant first of all it is supersedure.

It is when a colony replaces an old queen without swarming. There is a period when both a newly emerged queen and the old queen happily co-exist in the same colony.

Supersedure queen cells are usually produced in the middle of a comb whreas swarming ones are at the bottom or edge.

 

[Hivemaker.]

http://www.countryrubes.com/images/Natural_Supersedure_of_Queens_in_Honey_Bee_Colonies.pdf

 

[Juststarting]

http://www.countryrubes.com/images/Natural_Supersedure_of_Queens_in_Honey_Bee_Colonies.pdf

great article, thanks Hivemaker

 

[drstitson]

Interesting Jorgen Pfulgfelder couldn't explain why supersedure queens can happily live with old queen (ie he had no data).

presumably the releaser compound from HM's tergite glands that triggers fighting is only produced during main season or when queen is in full health.
(obviously to source lots of virgins for research it was carried out in queen rearing season).

Yes fertile queen can't bend abdomen to kill upstart virgin but virgin should have easy pickings.

 

[drstitson]

RoJ - in your french texts you may well find the appropriate term being something along the lines of "substitution" (at least in italian supercedure = sostituzione)

 

[masterBK]

Two types of supersedure
Inefficient (imperfect) supersedure is where the new queen emerges from her cell and kills her mother before mating and laying. This is inefficient because a gap in egg laying occurs
Efficient (perfect) supersedure is where the new queen emerges but her mother is not killed and continues to lay. The virgin will mate and she also lay. Eventually only the daughter queen will remain when her mother “disappears” presumably killed but this may be weeks or months later

 

[Poly Hive]

Or longer, I know of one that lasted 18 months. Proven by marked and clipped queens and correct to the record card.

PH