I decided to put this in the beginner section because it's mostly beginners who are misled with the popular misconception around swarm cells vs supersedure cells. Although there's a few old hands as well LOL.
There are several reasons bees build queen cells. One is because they plan to send out a swarm which will take their queen with it, so they have to make a replacement queen. The second is if their queen is getting old and needs to be replaced by a new queen. The third is if the queen dies suddenly, this is usually because the beekeeper accidentally killed it, and the bees have to make a new queen. If the queen is killed, the bees have to make these queen cells from an existing larva so the queen cell has to be built from the bottom of a cell with a baby bee in it, so these queen cells are called emergency cells. Because they are different to swarm and supersedure cells that are planned. For planned queen cells, the bees build a cell cup first, then the queen lays an egg in it, so planned queen cells are not coming out from a worker brood cell like an emergency queen cell is.
In the picture there are 3 queen cells at around the middle of the comb. We can see these cells are planned queen cells, because they are made from cell cups built by the bees, they are not emergency queen cells coming from the bottom of a worker brood cell.
So we know the bees have deliberately built these cells to make one or more new queens, for the purpose of supersedure of an old queen, or for swarming.
Now here's the bit that is a commonly held misconception. - It is often said that you can tell what the bees are going to do, because if they are going to swarm the queen cells will be at the bottom of the comb, and if they are to supersede an old queen but the hive is not planning to swarm, the cells will be on the face of the comb not necessarily at the bottom. But warning - this is often not true.
The queen cells in the picture, according to this misconceptioon would be for supersedure. But in fact this picture was taken in a hive that just swarmed, so the queen cells pictured were built for swarmimg.
So, if you find queen cells in your hive, how do you tell why the bees made them and what the bees are planning to do?
It's actually pretty easy. If there are just one or two queen cells total, and they are planned queen cells not emergency cells, the bees are planning to supersede a queen. In this case the queen cells should normally be left, because if the bees think their queen needs to be replaced, they are probably right. Let them make you a nice new queen.
If there are many cells, and they are planned cells not emergency cells, the hive is probably planning to swarm. They build many cells when planning to swarm, much more than 3, because they may send out more than one swarm. So the number of cells tells you what the bees plans are.
If the hive has been made queenless by the beekeeper acidentally killing the queen, the bees will build queen cells to make a new queen, provided they have young worker larvae of a young enough age to convert to queens. In this situation the bees will often build many queen cells, on the surface, it can look similar to a hive that is preparing to swarm. But take a close look. If you see the queen cells are built from the bottoms of worker cells because the bees had to use worker larvae, that tells you the hive is queenless and the cells are emergency cells. Also, if the queen has been killed, there will be no eggs or very young larvae in the hive because the queen was not there to lay them.
There's more, but I don't want the post to be too long and boring, I will let others come in and add stuff about the bee behaviour etc that can help diagnose what is happening when you see queen cells.
Below, a pic of three queen cells built so the hive canswarm
There are several reasons bees build queen cells. One is because they plan to send out a swarm which will take their queen with it, so they have to make a replacement queen. The second is if their queen is getting old and needs to be replaced by a new queen. The third is if the queen dies suddenly, this is usually because the beekeeper accidentally killed it, and the bees have to make a new queen. If the queen is killed, the bees have to make these queen cells from an existing larva so the queen cell has to be built from the bottom of a cell with a baby bee in it, so these queen cells are called emergency cells. Because they are different to swarm and supersedure cells that are planned. For planned queen cells, the bees build a cell cup first, then the queen lays an egg in it, so planned queen cells are not coming out from a worker brood cell like an emergency queen cell is.
In the picture there are 3 queen cells at around the middle of the comb. We can see these cells are planned queen cells, because they are made from cell cups built by the bees, they are not emergency queen cells coming from the bottom of a worker brood cell.
So we know the bees have deliberately built these cells to make one or more new queens, for the purpose of supersedure of an old queen, or for swarming.
Now here's the bit that is a commonly held misconception. - It is often said that you can tell what the bees are going to do, because if they are going to swarm the queen cells will be at the bottom of the comb, and if they are to supersede an old queen but the hive is not planning to swarm, the cells will be on the face of the comb not necessarily at the bottom. But warning - this is often not true.
The queen cells in the picture, according to this misconceptioon would be for supersedure. But in fact this picture was taken in a hive that just swarmed, so the queen cells pictured were built for swarmimg.
So, if you find queen cells in your hive, how do you tell why the bees made them and what the bees are planning to do?
It's actually pretty easy. If there are just one or two queen cells total, and they are planned queen cells not emergency cells, the bees are planning to supersede a queen. In this case the queen cells should normally be left, because if the bees think their queen needs to be replaced, they are probably right. Let them make you a nice new queen.
If there are many cells, and they are planned cells not emergency cells, the hive is probably planning to swarm. They build many cells when planning to swarm, much more than 3, because they may send out more than one swarm. So the number of cells tells you what the bees plans are.
If the hive has been made queenless by the beekeeper acidentally killing the queen, the bees will build queen cells to make a new queen, provided they have young worker larvae of a young enough age to convert to queens. In this situation the bees will often build many queen cells, on the surface, it can look similar to a hive that is preparing to swarm. But take a close look. If you see the queen cells are built from the bottoms of worker cells because the bees had to use worker larvae, that tells you the hive is queenless and the cells are emergency cells. Also, if the queen has been killed, there will be no eggs or very young larvae in the hive because the queen was not there to lay them.
There's more, but I don't want the post to be too long and boring, I will let others come in and add stuff about the bee behaviour etc that can help diagnose what is happening when you see queen cells.
Below, a pic of three queen cells built so the hive canswarm
