DominicReady
New Bee
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2011
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Cornwall
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 1
I was given a swarm back in May this year, and it has since built up really well on a brood and a half. I even got about 13 jars of honey from them.
I opened the hive yesterday to feed them some more sugar syrup, and was really surprised at how many bees there are. Even before I opened the hive, there are around 20-30 bees coming and going at the entrance.
As it was a mild day here in Cornwall, I had a quick look at the half brood, and was surprised to find 6 queen cells - unsealed, but with royal jelly at the bottom. The queen cells weren't on the same frame, but were pretty much on three neighbouring frames. I was also surprised to see drone brood. However, I did see single eggs in cells, so it doesn't look like it's a laying worker.
I'm thinking this is either supercedure or swarming.
To back up the fact it's supercedure:
- the queen cells are all quite close together on neighbouring frames
- it's the wrong time of year to swarm(!)
- if my queen is laying drone brood, this might suggest she's running out of fertilised eggs
On the other hand, to support the theory they're about to swarm:
- the hive is really busy, and the bees are overflowing out of the hive when I open it
- the 3 used frames I had above the crown board for them to clean they've started to put nectar in
- I guess 6 queen cells is quite a lot if they really are just superceding the queen
Any thoughts on what's going on here??!
If it's supercedure, I'll obviously just leave them to it. However, if they really do want to swarm, I reckon doing an artificial swarm isn't appropriate, as it would make 2 weak colonies and they have no chance to build up for the Winter. In that case, maybe the best I can do is destroy all but 2 queen cells.
I'd be grateful for any thoughts /advice /questions to help me figure this out!
Thanks
I opened the hive yesterday to feed them some more sugar syrup, and was really surprised at how many bees there are. Even before I opened the hive, there are around 20-30 bees coming and going at the entrance.
As it was a mild day here in Cornwall, I had a quick look at the half brood, and was surprised to find 6 queen cells - unsealed, but with royal jelly at the bottom. The queen cells weren't on the same frame, but were pretty much on three neighbouring frames. I was also surprised to see drone brood. However, I did see single eggs in cells, so it doesn't look like it's a laying worker.
I'm thinking this is either supercedure or swarming.
To back up the fact it's supercedure:
- the queen cells are all quite close together on neighbouring frames
- it's the wrong time of year to swarm(!)
- if my queen is laying drone brood, this might suggest she's running out of fertilised eggs
On the other hand, to support the theory they're about to swarm:
- the hive is really busy, and the bees are overflowing out of the hive when I open it
- the 3 used frames I had above the crown board for them to clean they've started to put nectar in
- I guess 6 queen cells is quite a lot if they really are just superceding the queen
Any thoughts on what's going on here??!
If it's supercedure, I'll obviously just leave them to it. However, if they really do want to swarm, I reckon doing an artificial swarm isn't appropriate, as it would make 2 weak colonies and they have no chance to build up for the Winter. In that case, maybe the best I can do is destroy all but 2 queen cells.
I'd be grateful for any thoughts /advice /questions to help me figure this out!
Thanks