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New Zealand Beekeeping Questions
Was my queen going to swarm?
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<blockquote data-quote="Alastair" data-source="post: 11750" data-attributes="member: 13"><p>WF I can't be sure without actually seeing the hive, but from what you describe it sounds like the hive had already swarmed and the queen cells hatched. The bees would have started tearing them down, thus you described them as "empty and incomplete".</p><p></p><p>You seem to differentiate between "empty incomplete swarm cells and 1 empty incomplete queen cell". In fact they are all queen cells regardless where on the comb they are placed. If there were many (you don't say how many) they would have likely been for swarming. The other reason for many would have been if the hive was queenless and they were emergency cells, but you say they were empty so if they were empty while there were unsealed worker larva in the hive, that is unlikely.</p><p></p><p>The queen you introduced 6 days later would have been killed by the resident virgin.</p><p></p><p>The queen you found at some later date was probably the virgin who by now might have mated but you don't give the time frame. The small larva in the queen cell may well have been from an egg by a laying worker, bees sometimes do this in disrupted hives.</p><p></p><p>Then you accidentally killed the queen so the hive is likely now hopelessly queenless. Keep an eye on the queen cell with a larva just incase it does develop into a queen but if it was from a laying worker it will be a male larva and die around capping time. There may also be some fertilized eggs the bees could raise a new queen from, if the queen you killed had time to lay some before her demise.</p><p></p><p>The worst scenario is that the queen did not actually die but is still in the hive, but injured and unable to lay eggs, this would be a problem for any requeening attempts.</p><p></p><p>All this is conjecture, my best guess as to the most likely scenario based on the information given.</p><p></p><p>Let's know how this turns out <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite22" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs up (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alastair, post: 11750, member: 13"] WF I can't be sure without actually seeing the hive, but from what you describe it sounds like the hive had already swarmed and the queen cells hatched. The bees would have started tearing them down, thus you described them as "empty and incomplete". You seem to differentiate between "empty incomplete swarm cells and 1 empty incomplete queen cell". In fact they are all queen cells regardless where on the comb they are placed. If there were many (you don't say how many) they would have likely been for swarming. The other reason for many would have been if the hive was queenless and they were emergency cells, but you say they were empty so if they were empty while there were unsealed worker larva in the hive, that is unlikely. The queen you introduced 6 days later would have been killed by the resident virgin. The queen you found at some later date was probably the virgin who by now might have mated but you don't give the time frame. The small larva in the queen cell may well have been from an egg by a laying worker, bees sometimes do this in disrupted hives. Then you accidentally killed the queen so the hive is likely now hopelessly queenless. Keep an eye on the queen cell with a larva just incase it does develop into a queen but if it was from a laying worker it will be a male larva and die around capping time. There may also be some fertilized eggs the bees could raise a new queen from, if the queen you killed had time to lay some before her demise. The worst scenario is that the queen did not actually die but is still in the hive, but injured and unable to lay eggs, this would be a problem for any requeening attempts. All this is conjecture, my best guess as to the most likely scenario based on the information given. Let's know how this turns out (y) [/QUOTE]
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