Capped queen cell

[steveselvage]

Last Sunday I had a nose through my bees and one colony on a single national brood was on only 6 frames of brood with the rest packed with stores.
Due to my idiocy I decided to remove the stores and replace with drawn comb and put the stores above in another brood box with an excluder between.
I couldn't take it away completely in case the weather was rubbish.
Somehow I managed to put the queen above the excluder and today I found one capped queen cell in the bottom box and the queen trying her best to find room above to lay, the top box has 4 frames of honey and six foundation.
In my panic I pinched the QC and put the queen in the bottom box.
She now has ample room to lay but I wonder if they have decided to go as there was no room to lay.
It's my smallest hive and I don't really want to split it.
Is it fact that once a QC is capped they are intent on swarming?

 

[Swarm]

More likely a response to your mistake. You could have removed a couple of stores frames and replaced with drawn comb as you did and store the others, two capped honey frames should be ample for a big colony between visits.

 

[fian]

You may run into 2 problems.
1. A queen cell left undestroyed. In which case you have 2 weeks of performance.
2. You have shown a way that the bees can accept.
In any case, I would execute a preventive Demare.
Take a new box with stretched honeycomb.
A. Set up lower nest
HFHFBBBFHFH, the brood should be mostly unsealed. Here the queen will stay.
B. Excluder and rises above.
C. In the upper part, the new drawer with some boxes of honey and all the boxes of closed breeding that you have when you check. Complete with unstretched comb.
Option 1.
Destroy the royal cells if you see them. Wait a week and check the top again. Destroy any royal cells they were able to build again.
The following week, remove the upper drawer and add risers as needed. Also remove the excluder. Replace the older or honey combs with the new ones drawn from the top drawer. If you prefer, you can go for a double breeding system, arranging that cajor above the nest and then placing the supers.
Option 2. Remove to a nucleus the squares that contain real cells with their bees.
Replace older or honeycombs. Three weeks later check that the nucleous queen has started to lay.

 

[ericbeaumont]

smallest hive

Do you know why? Old queen, minor disease? My guess would be lack of laying space, and if so, you had the right idea but not the best plan.

A colony on 6 frames of brood is not bad, but at a guess, not brilliant for Southampton. What are the rest like?

had a nose through my bees

Somehow I managed

In my panic

Reckon it's time to take this seriously, to have a regular plan and options.

If in doubt, do nowt, but park the problem here and we'll mull it over.

 

[steveselvage]

Thanks for your replies
This colony has a 2022 queen in but upon my first inspection I noticed it was very wet inside, presumably rain water was getting between the boxes/floor over winter.
It's an old type abelo poly.
I swapped them into a timber hive and they seem fine but behind my others.
She is laying well now.
I think the mouse theory is correct as I looked today and they are rebuilding the combs.

 

[ericbeaumont]

old type abelo poly.

Recent boxes have a mod to prevent water or condensation sitting in the lug recesses. Abelo take a saw or knife and cut a notch at either end.

 

[JamezF]

Recent boxes have a mod to prevent water or condensation sitting in the lug recesses. Abelo take a saw or knife and cut a notch at either end.

I'd have thought that would be rather more neatly done with a drill. Quite possibly quicker, too.

James

 

[ericbeaumont]

neatly done

Or a soldering type of iron, or perhaps modify the mould.

 

[PeaBee]

Probably not a swarm cell at all but either and attempt at supercedure as they have decided she is duff ( either because she is or because she could not lay as a result of your manipulation) or maybe a response to you moving her out of the colony and if not enough bees were up with her in the top box pheromone may not be being distributed so they may have thought they were queenless.
Now she is back down below thing could resolve themselves. They may still superceded her.