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Author Topic: Queen cells ???  (Read 3022 times)

Offline Butteredloins

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Queen cells ???
« on: September 27, 2018, 12:08:05 am »
Hi guys
So am puzzled. I recently added the second box on top of my 10f deep box. I moved three frames of brood up and placed in a queen excluder. Two weeks later I found the queen in the top second box and realised she must have been on the frame I moved up. I transferred her back to the first box placed the queen excluder and left the boxes for another two week. I inspected the boxes today and found a queen cell see attached in the top box. I looked in the first box and there was the queen alive and well. There was a couple of drone cells but not alot. Now why would they want to replace her. She is a new queen I got in March this year. Is it due to the lack of space. I see the queen is only laying in two frames in the bottom box and the other frames are either full of pollen and honey or haven't been drawn out yet. I removed the queen excluder today so she can go up to the second box to lay up there, but that's not what I wanted. Should I wait till more frames are drawn out before putting the queen excluder back and will the bees continue to make Queen cells. How often must I check and keep destroying them.

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Queen cells ???
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2018, 09:34:15 am »
It's very common for them to raise a queen on the other side of the excluder if there is brood and no queen.  I'd let it play out and then use the queen somewhere else, or leave it for a two queen hive.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline Crysalismum

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Re: Queen cells ???
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2019, 08:09:31 am »
Sorry for the silly question but if the new queen can?t go for her maiden flight then will she be able to lay eggs?

Offline Live Oak

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Re: Queen cells ???
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2019, 01:18:44 pm »
Sorry for the silly question but if the new queen can?t go for her maiden flight then will she be able to lay eggs?

If she cannot complete a series of mating flights, she will be able to lay eggs but she will be a drone layer. 

It the queen cell is nearing time of hatching.  I think I would try splitting the hive and moving the brood box with the active, mated, laying queen to a new location and leave the brood box with the queen cell and brood  in the exact location the current hive is now.  The brood box with the active queen will be able to continue on and recover its foraging bee force in it's new location. 

The box with the queen cell that has not hatched yet will eventually hatch and conduct her mating flights.  Once the field bees leave the brood box with the original active queen in the new location, they will return to the brood box in the original location bringing in much needed resources.  You have an approx. 80% that the new queen will get fully mated and return to the hive.  After about 3 weeks, I like to take a quick peek inside the hive with the new queen/cell and check for eggs or new capped brood. 

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Queen cells ???
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2019, 09:13:21 am »
>Sorry for the silly question but if the new queen can?t go for her maiden flight then will she be able to lay eggs?

No.  If she doesn't mate, she never lays eggs.  But she only need to find a small enough hole to squeeze through.  I never put an excluder on without a way for the drones to get out on both sides of the excluder and if drones can get out the queen can get out.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin