What went wrong in round two?

[BeeKeyPlayer]

I had 18 nice queen cells from a cell raiser in my final round of grafts for this season. This was about three weeks ago. I transferred 6 of them to hives and 12 to mini nucs. These nucs already had brood and the queens had been removed. A couple of days after inserting the cells I found that all the virgin queens had emerged and the cells had a nice open flap. About ten days later when I checked for eggs, I found that ALL the queens had disappeared. There were no eggs or larvae. The only brood was the remnant from the previous queens.

Any ideas what I did wrong? Did I insert the cells into to the mini nucs too soon after the previous queens had been removed?

 

[Antipodes]

I had 18 nice queen cells from a cell raiser in my final round of grafts for this season. This was about three weeks ago. I transferred 6 of them to hives and 12 to mini nucs. These nucs already had brood and the queens had been removed. A couple of days after inserting the cells I found that all the virgin queens had emerged and the cells had a nice open flap. About ten days later when I checked for eggs, I found that ALL the queens had disappeared. There were no eggs or larvae. The only brood was the remnant from the previous queens.

Any ideas what I did wrong? Did I insert the cells into to the mini nucs too soon after the previous queens had been removed?

Was there much sugar syrup available to them in the minis?
Were the six put in the hives ok?

 

[Michael Palmer]

I had 18 nice queen cells from a cell raiser in my final round of grafts for this season. This was about three weeks ago. I transferred 6 of them to hives and 12 to mini nucs. These nucs already had brood and the queens had been removed. A couple of days after inserting the cells I found that all the virgin queens had emerged and the cells had a nice open flap. About ten days later when I checked for eggs, I found that ALL the queens had disappeared. There were no eggs or larvae. The only brood was the remnant from the previous queens.

Any ideas what I did wrong? Did I insert the cells into to the mini nucs too soon after the previous queens had been removed?

So you're checking for eggs at 12 days after giving the cells? How old were the cells...how many days after graft? My cells are scheduled to be given 10 days after graft. I catch the queens on day 16 after giving cells. From the age of the new larvae I would say that most queens begin to lay one day 11 or 12. Seems odd all would fail.

Lately, I've been giving the cells on the same day after catching the queens. That would be day 9 after graft. Still getting 80% return in most groups.

 

[Chris Hancock]

Was there much sugar syrup available to them in the minis?
Were the six put in the hives ok?

Sometimes, it takes up to four weeks before they lay, and some queens are small and hard to spot. Give them time, but to stop laying workers, you may have to put a frame of brood in all stages occasionally. If they are queenless, they will raise another.

 

[jarmo henttu]

I had 18 nice queen cells from a cell raiser in my final round of grafts for this season. This was about three weeks ago. I transferred 6 of them to hives and 12 to mini nucs. These nucs already had brood and the queens had been removed. A couple of days after inserting the cells I found that all the virgin queens had emerged and the cells had a nice open flap. About ten days later when I checked for eggs, I found that ALL the queens had disappeared. There were no eggs or larvae. The only brood was the remnant from the previous queens.

Any ideas what I did wrong? Did I insert the cells into to the mini nucs too soon after the previous queens had been removed?

If there were brood, a new queen did not have cell to lay.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Was there much sugar syrup available to them in the minis?
Were the six put in the hives ok?

Yes, three was plenty fondant. The cells that went into other hives were okay.