BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > REQUEENING & RAISING NEW QUEENS
New package, new queen, new supercedure cell
The15thMember:
--- Quote from: So-apiary on May 23, 2021, 01:26:37 pm ---I did some research on that queen cell I found. Turns out it was a swarm cell, not an emergency supercedure cell. Now I have to figure out how to address that urge to swarm. Being less intrusive will help, I'm sure, but I probably need to do more. I haven't decided what exactly, but part of the solution might involve getting that snazzy, mite resistant queen I've been wanting. Never a dull moment, right? I agree, Ben, this forum is a lifesaver for new beeks!
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--- Quote from: So-apiary on May 23, 2021, 04:48:00 pm ---I did some more research and accidentally discovered that this time of year is swarm season, something I didn't know. So it could be that the swarm cell I found is just a product of bees doing what they typically do, although I still don't need to add any fuel to the fire by being so intrusive.
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It is swarm season, but I highly doubt your tiny new colony has swarming on it's mind right now. You only saw 1 queen cell, correct? I'm assuming that somewhere you read "swarm cells are on the bottom of the frames, and supersedure cells are in the middle". This is only a rule of thumb, and in my experience the better indicator of what the bees are planning is the number of cells. Hives planning to swarm will typically build many queen cells, since they have the resources to do so, and will use the extra queens to swarm multiple times in many cases. I removed 20 queen cells from a colony preparing to swarm a couple of weeks ago and some were along the bottoms of the frames and some were in the middle. During a supersedure though, it's an emergency that the bees haven't prepared for, and they don't need to make more than one queen, so they will typically build only a few queen cells and these are wherever the right age larva are on the frame. In many cases this is in the middle of a frame, but it can easily be along a bottom edge as well.
So-apiary:
15th, you're right. I did read that "these are swarm cells, and these are emergency supercedure cells". Yes, there was only one of them.
It's a huge relief to read that you don't think my bees are thinking about swarming. I've been freaking out about it and thinking I need to do all kinds of interventions. I *think* the bees have everything they need -- a queen who appears to be doing her best with what she's got, a few empty frames to work on, what appears to be a nice pollen and nectar flow at the moment, a robber screen to protect their tiny colony, and a dummy board keeping the hive size cozy. Being the newbee that I am, maybe I made way too much out of that one queen cell. So I'm gonna calm down and see how things look next weekend.
Thanks for gently chilling me out. :)
The15thMember:
--- Quote from: So-apiary on May 23, 2021, 05:41:30 pm ---15th, you're right. I did read that "these are swarm cells, and these are emergency supercedure cells". Yes, there was only one of them.
It's a huge relief to read that you don't think my bees are thinking about swarming. I've been freaking out about it and thinking I need to do all kinds of interventions. I *think* the bees have everything they need -- a queen who appears to be doing her best with what she's got, a few empty frames to work on, what appears to be a nice pollen and nectar flow at the moment, a robber screen to protect their tiny colony, and a dummy board keeping the hive size cozy. Being the newbee that I am, maybe I made way too much out of that one queen cell. So I'm gonna calm down and see how things look next weekend.
Thanks for gently chilling me out. :)
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No problem, I'm very happy to help. :happy: I think that sounds like a pretty good situation for a new hive too. Be sure to keep a mind on your flow and don't be afraid to feed them if they are still behind and you get a dearth. Calming down, taking a step back, and waiting to see what the bees do next is usually a good idea when you are unsure what's going on in a hive or what to do about it. Newbees are sometimes warned so heavily about queen cells and swarming, but swarming isn't normally a problem until a hive is large enough to feel the need to split themselves.
--- Quote from: So-apiary on May 23, 2021, 01:26:37 pm ---I plan to do monthly sugar rolls to check for mites, starting in a couple weeks. I've been checking the mite board under the hive in the meantime. So far, no beetles or mites. The bees can't get to the board, so I dusted it with DE before installing the bees. If anything does fall through, the DE should send them to glory. If a mite problem develops, I definitely will treat with the dreaded chemicals. My goal is to work my way into having resilient bees. The transition will take some time, so in the meantime, I'll take good care of the bees I have.
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I meant to pick up on this earlier and then forgot to mention it. I seem to have a similar philosophy to yours on this topic. I too am working toward more mite-tolerant bees, reproducing my stronger colonies and slowly trying to improve my genetics, but I absolutely agree that treating or otherwise dealing with a mite-infested colony is a necessity to avoid infecting other nearby colonies when an unhealthy one crashes. I wanted to let you know that there are plenty of organic treatment options that will work just as well as hard chemical treatments if a mite issue is caught early enough. I have used some successfully in the past. I'm working towards using only IPM/mite trapping methods to keep varroa under control, but I'm not quite there yet.
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