Urgent advice needed - queen cups

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The Cumbrian

Field Bee
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
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Location
Cumbria
Hive Type
Other
Number of Hives
2
Hi

As the name suggests I am based in the general Lake District area. I kept bees in conjunction with a friend many (many many) years ago but had to give up due to not being able to give time when needed due to work commitments.

Now retired I decided to give it another go. Last week I received a nuc from friends of my daughter - quite a distance away. This was 5 national frames and this years marked queen.

All seemed to go well until I was inspecting them today. There were a number of queen cups and I couldn't find the queen or for that matter any fresh eggs. Still lots of bees and they have plenty of room and still lots of bees so I don't think there has been a swarm/cast.

The question is what to do? As I see it basically two possibilities.

1. Say the girls know best and leave them alone to rear a new queen. Problem if for some reason I have missed the queen I assume they will swarm. (I seem to have forgotten all I ever knew :-(

2. Assume the queen is there and knock down the cells. The risk as I see it is she isn't there and I have the colony go down.

Currently I am not in touch with any local bee keepers wanting to get set up and reminded myself about how things were before rushing off to join the local association.

Any advice. suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
1. queen cups do not equal queen cells. no point destroying
2. if no eggs or young larvae then no queen can be raised.

do you have evidence of larvae of any age?
did you see eggs last week?
 
There were eggs when I picked the nuc up.

Obviously there can be no new queen if there are no eggs or larvae to raise.

Sorry I was so shaken by the worry of there possibly being no queen that I didn't spend too long looking. I will go and have another look tomorrow.
 
bit of advice when beginning - take digital snaps of each side of frames as you inspect. with modern 10MP+ cameras you can zoom in and see eggs etc. at your leisure (and maybe spot HM). you can also compare each week and see what brood has emerged and what has just been sealed etc.

BTW presume you have housed the nuc frames in a full hive - dummied down to 6-7 frames or 5 frames from nuc and 6 foundation? or still in nuc?
 
A bit confused here all round.
You need to establish if the queen "cups" contain anything - food, egg, larva? If the latter two, that will be your new queen, so do not remove them all.

If no queen and no eggs or young larvae, then you have to re queen. Your lack of contact with local beekeepers limits your options.

What is the state of your brood? Do you know the history of the nuc before you got it?
 
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It is in a top bar hive (OK probably not everyone's choice) with a similar amount of room to what you suggest.

Brilliant suggestion about the digital camera. Why didn't I think of that.
 
A bit confused here all round.
You need to establish if the queen "cups" contain anything - food, egg, larva? If the latter two, that will be your new queen, so do not remove them all.

As mentioned earlier I was so "gobsmacked" that I didn't take the care I should so I will go back tomorrow and "do the job properly".

Do I assume you mean that if there are eggs food or grubs then it is OK to leave them and the queen will naturally take over?


If no queen and no eggs or young larvae, then you have to re queen. Your lack of contact with local beekeepers limits your options.

If I had contact with local bee keepers what would you suggest?

What is the state of your brood? Do you know the history of the nuc before you got it?

Again I will go and make proper note of every thing tomorrow. What do you mean by history of the nuc (Strange question I know). Do you mean was it started from a swarm reared deliberately to start a new colony etc?

As far as I know it was created with the intention of starting a new colony I shall ask the appropriate questions of my daughters friend.

Thanks all of you for your very rapid responses.
 
may i ask how you have got 5 national frames into a top bar hive?

re history - was it a split off an established colony, a small swarm or just some frames of brood thrown in a box (with or w/o a queen).
 
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may i ask how you have got 5 national frames into a top bar hive?

re history - was it a split off an established colony, a small swarm or just some frames of brood thrown in a box (with or w/o a queen).

The flippant reply is very carefully! To be more sensible you remove the bees from the frame, cut the bars at the bottom and them break away the side bars. In some hives you then have to trim the sides a little to make them fit. My hive is sized so that very little trimming was required.

I don't know if I am allowed to post links on this forum but if you google Bees chop and crop video you will see various demonstrations of how it is done.
 
you need a test frame to see if there is a queen in there. Test frame with eggs in it. no queen then they will make one. Queen there then they wont make one..easy peasy
 
But if you've only 1 hive where do you get a test frame?
 
A small torch (maglite type) is often helpful if you are trying to spot eggs in the bottom of cells. I've never had any success using a camera.

Someone recently showed me a magnifying glass with built in LEDs. Very handy for examining frames in the field.
 
I am against using a camera for the simple reason it holds up the inspecion and increases the risk of getting stung.

Quite why you would want a top bar hive is another matter, not my choice at all.

Your description of queen cups is not helpful to be honest as it is not the presence of the cups BUT THEIR CONTENTS that is critical.

PH
 
I am against using a camera for the simple reason it holds up the inspecion and increases the risk of getting stung.

Quite why you would want a top bar hive is another matter, not my choice at all.

I acknowledged that it wasn't everyone's choice at the start but wouldn't the world be a boring place if we all liked the same things.

Your description of queen cups is not helpful to be honest as it is not the presence of the cups BUT THEIR CONTENTS that is critical.

PH

Yes this was made clear earlier in the thread and as you will have seen I acknowledged this and said I will go and do a better job tomorrow - weather permitting - I think rain is forecast.
 
Hi,
Whereabouts in Cumbria are you? I know a couple of beekeepers up there and it sounds like it would be a good idea to touch base with at least one. From personal experience, I know how important it is to have someone local to bounce ideas off. Worth looking into your local association too.

I hope the hive inspection provides some enlightenment tomorrow!

Incidentally, I know TBH are not to everyone's taste, but there are pros and cons to everything and it depends what you want out of beekeeping. You stick to your guns!
 
"plus the risk of covering an expensive piece of kit in propolis."

an adequate 10-12MP snapper can be had for no more than £50. The propolis comes off with alcowipes.
 
Hi,
Whereabouts in Cumbria are you? I know a couple of beekeepers up there and it sounds like it would be a good idea to touch base with at least one. From personal experience, I know how important it is to have someone local to bounce ideas off. Worth looking into your local association too.

Penrith would be my local association. As I said earlier it was my intention to join but I had expected to give it a week or two while the bees settled and I "got my hand in" again after the many years away from it.

I hope the hive inspection provides some enlightenment tomorrow!

Thank you for the kind thought I hope so too.

Incidentally, I know TBH are not to everyone's taste, but there are pros and cons to everything and it depends what you want out of beekeeping. You stick to your guns!

My reasons for bee keeping are simple I like bees and I want them out there doing what I consider they do best - pollinating. I wouldn't say I am totally uninterested in honey but the quantity yielded is unimportant to me. All I am looking for is a nice relaxing hobby after many years in a stressful profession and to be looking after other living things again.

There is no doubt I will stick to my guns I tend to be a bit "pig headed" and don't change my mind easily - just ask my wife :)
 

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