Superseding colony?

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Curly green finger's

If you think you know all, you actually know nowt!
***
BeeKeeping Supporter
Joined
Jul 30, 2019
Messages
6,857
Reaction score
4,782
Location
Herefordshire/shropshire
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
50+
Wondering what folk thought of this brood pattern .
IMG_0398.jpegIMG_0396.jpeg

IMG_0395.jpeg
Queen is a 2021 and one of ceri s from cardigan bay honey she has served me well.


One capped queen cell on the third frame in just of centre , no others at all .
Apologies for the bottom photo she is a new 2023 black girl.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0389.jpeg
    IMG_0389.jpeg
    2 MB
  • IMG_0387.jpeg
    IMG_0387.jpeg
    2.1 MB
Last edited:
supersede before it’s to late.
Yes, sooner the better. Last thing you want is a late supersedure with risk of inadequate mating.

It is said that if a queen leg was clipped the bees would supersede. I did it once, accidentally, before I'd learned to wait when clipping as she put up a leg.

She was a new queen, but they superseded straight away.
 
Yes, sooner the better. Last thing you want is a late supersedure with risk of inadequate mating.

It is said that if a queen leg was clipped the bees would supersede. I did it once, accidentally, before I'd learned to wait when clipping as she put up a leg.

She was a new queen, but they superseded straight away.
It’s not to late yet I’m having one more round at grafting .
I’m thinking about clipping all my queens , I have to many to not justify it.
 
Do you sometimes get neglected brood were they faul to look after some of the drone brood?
 
I have a couple of hives with a couple of frames like that but all other frames good worker brood. They seem to be doing fine. I did expect supersedure though. Got a feeling it may happen
 
Interesting Curly. Perhaps some queens retain more pheromones than others even though they are becoming drone layers?
Indeed shame we can’t test them for queen substance /pheromones once there mated and mature .
Or even before that maybe another string to the bow to selection.
 
I’m wondering when we have queens that turn into drone layers why don’t they supersed first .
probably because by the time the bees find out they are drone layers - they are only laying unfertilized eggs.
Queens don't have a gauge on the side telling everyone the level of juice left in her spermatheca.
Perhaps some queens retain more pheromones than others even though they are becoming drone layers?
it's not the lack of queen substance that's the issue.
It's the lack of drone 'substance
 
it's not the lack of queen substance that's the issue.

Queens don't have a gauge on the side telling everyone the level of juice left in her spermatheca.

The level of the queen's pheromones is very much the issue with supersedure from what I've read, from her mandibular pheromone to tarsal pheromones and Koschevnikov gland pheromones etc. My theory is that, as they age, some queens perhaps retain their pheromone smelliness more than others. It could also be one reason why sometimes when you do a Demaree and anticipate queen cells in the top box, they don't necessarily make them. Curly question from Curly :unsure:
 
The level of the queen's pheromones is very much the issue with supersedure from what I've read,
but we are talking of DLQs, not supersedure in particular, you are just mixing up the two and inventing a theory from fresh air. Just because the queen has run out of sperm, doesn't necessarily mean she has run out of queen substance.
 
The level of the queen's pheromones is very much the issue with supersedure from what I've read, from her mandibular pheromone to tarsal pheromones and Koschevnikov gland pheromones etc. My theory is that, as they age, some queens perhaps retain their pheromone smelliness more than others. It could also be one reason why sometimes when you do a Demaree and anticipate queen cells in the top box, they don't necessarily make them. Curly question from Curly :unsure:
probably because by the time the bees find out they are drone layers - they are only laying unfertilized eggs.
Queens don't have a gauge on the side telling everyone the level of juice left in her spermatheca.

it's not the lack of queen substance that's the issue.
It's the lack of drone 'substance
That maybe so but if a queen is
Starting to turn drone layer surely there pheromone’s alter change somewhat and the rest of the colony should start supersedure .
If there are more drones in a colony because a queen has started to lay more drones wouldn’t there be more drone substance so altering the amount ?
I believe some colony’s are more sensitive to the balance of pheromones and the changes that happen when a queen turns into a Dlq
 
what on earth is drone substance?!
So all these 'theories' above are just that - and guesswork
Examples of pure substances include tin, sulfur, diamond, water, pure sugar (sucrose), table salt (sodium chloride) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Crystals, in general, are pure substances. Tin, sulfur, and diamond are examples of pure substances that are chemical elements. All elements are pure substances.30 Jan 2020.

I’ll get back to you on your question .
 

Latest posts

Back
Top