What the heck is going on???!

[EdNewman]

Two weeks ago I watched a virign queen emerge from a queen cell, I took her, two frames of brood, two frames of stores and shook in a good number of bees and did an AS into a new hive. I let them be for two weeks and had a very quick check today. No Egg's, no brood but a single queen cell in the middle of a frame, uncapped with a grub in it.

I'm assuming it's a supercedure cell, but where did the egg come from? if the virgin queen has mated surly there should be other eggs around?

Ed.

 

[victor meldrew]

Virgin queens go on more than one mating flight in the mating window they have .
Possibly she had commenced laying and was subsequently lost !
Small colony then created an emergency cell??
Pure speculation on my part of course as maybe queens don't begin to lay until all mating flights have ceased and a little time elapsed ???

John Wilkinson

 

[EdNewman]

Virgin queens go on more than one mating flight in the mating window they have .
Possibly she had commenced laying and was subsequently lost !
Small colony then created an emergency cell??
Pure speculation on my part of course as maybe queens don't begin to lay until all mating flights have ceased and a little time elapsed ???

John Wilkinson

A good theory, but wouldn't there be other eggs and unsealed brood?

Ed.

 

[sawdstmakr]

After 2 weeks? A good chance around day 7 not day 14.