Well that didn't work!!

Sutty · May 18, 2023

2 days ago I found a hive with multiple sealed queen cells, I couldn't find the queen but it had been cool for a couple of days & the hive seemed populous so I thought she might still be there.
I cut them back to one open QC and exchanged hive positions with a swarm I'd collected 10 days earlier - this had brood and eggs but no QCs and covered about 5 frames.
My hope was that the possibly-swarmed hive would give up on the idea if queen present as far less flying bees, and the swarm's numbers would be bolstered by the extra flying bees.
It didn't quite work out that way! Today I witnessed the 12 day old hived swarm swarm again! The flying bees had obviously decided they were going come what may!
On examining the hive there were multiple new queen cells each charged only with an egg!
I cut them back to one, though they may well make EQCs too now.
I'd never heard of bees swarming when the QCs were at such an early stage!
Every day's a school day!

Sutty · May 19, 2023

Surprised no replies to this.
No-one else surprised bees will swarm with such early QCs?

Ian123 · May 19, 2023

Not surprised it happens….A couple of years ago I’d gone through half a site and run out of boxes, it was getting late so decided 1 more hive.
Lots of queen cells and some capped, I did an AS leaving the old queen a couple of frames of brood the rest foundation and a couple of supers. The rest of the double brood I moved to a new spot intending on splitting into nucs for cells at home on my return visit the next day.
The next day I returned about 11am un packed nuc boxes and got the smoker going next minute the old hive swarmed and I watched them settle 10 meters up in a tree. Inspecting the hive there was few bees left just stragglers, no q cells whatsoever and they had abandoned open brood. In fact they had evacuated the whole hive

Bees often do things not in the books and will keep surprising us!