Odd season...observations...

[susbees]

This is an odd season.

Just because you find sealed cells and find no new eggs...does NOT mean the queen has gone. I am generally good at finding queens first time through when I need to and this year there seems to be a lot of supersedure/swarm blends going on so non-textbook stuff and mentioned elsewhere on the forum.

I did most of last week's checks a day or two late as we had an unexpected overseas student who needed "showing the sites" to. SEVERAL colonies had sealed QCs....yet only ONE of those had lost a swarm (marked queens in all the others) and the weather was easily dry and warm enough. The swarm that left the apiary was tiny (shaken into a box and vanished in spite of the queen being in there while fetching a QE). Swarm calls virtually nil.

When beekeepers find a sealed QC they expect to find no queen.
When they see one marked queen they don't generally look for a supercedure queen - where a swarm won't go at all and the old queen vanishes.

Bees don't read the books....

 

[fiftyjon]

On a few occasions I also have had colonies with sealed queen cells, eggs and a present queen. The weather having been dry and warm the previous days.

 

[Goran]

When I see qc I don't split immediatelly, at least here they don't swarm when qc is sealed at once, some days later - I even wait sometimes to top of the qc start to thicken.
When is supersedure often old queen work side by side with new queen, later she's history. At least I learned that way..

 

[thorn]

Bees don't read the books....

Does anyone run a course I can send them on?

 

[Stickyfingers]

On a few occasions I also have had colonies with sealed queen cells, eggs and a present queen. The weather having been dry and warm the previous days.

 

[For want of a better word]

Does anyone run a course I can send them on?

Yes ...quite funny !

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Does anyone run a course I can send them on?

If there is enough interest I am sure one day seminars could be organised. Hire a room, provide refreshments and charge from £60 per bee?

It works for other things ;-)

 

[MandF]

Does anyone run a course I can send them on?

Best thing is to get an audio tape (remember those) and leave it playing in the roof space. That way you get to the bees before they even emerge.

 

[drstitson]

perhaps if colonies were forced to undergo proper annual appraisal with multisource feedback etc etc ......

 

[Jimmys Mum]

I had a similar scenario recently. Last Saturday I found two queen cells (one sealed and one approaching sealing stage) in the middle of the frame with my marked queen still roaming around the comb. Assumed classic supercedure so left well alone. Checked again Wednesday, the marked queen and those sealed cells were still there .....along with another 9 queen cells in the making, about half charged. Supercedure and swarming going on together????? Confused.com!

 

[MuswellMetro]

This is an odd season.

Just because you find sealed cells and find no new eggs...does NOT mean the queen has gone. I am generally good at finding queens first time through when I need to and this year there seems to be a lot of supersedure/swarm blends going on so non-textbook stuff and mentioned elsewhere on the forum.

I did most of last week's checks a day or two late as we had an unexpected overseas student who needed "showing the sites" to. SEVERAL colonies had sealed QCs....yet only ONE of those had lost a swarm (marked queens in all the others) and the weather was easily dry and warm enough. The swarm that left the apiary was tiny (shaken into a box and vanished in spite of the queen being in there while fetching a QE). Swarm calls virtually nil.

When beekeepers find a sealed QC they expect to find no queen.
When they see one marked queen they don't generally look for a supercedure queen - where a swarm won't go at all and the old queen vanishes.

Bees don't read the books....

tell me about it!

did an AS with clipped queen on to origianal site into foundation with two brood no QC, moved the QC hive 15ft to the side , what have i got now 7 days later on the origmnal site one frame of brood one emerged and 10% of the bees..no foragers, no queen, no QC...where has she gone, where are the foragers, think i'll take up ferret breeding

others like yours are capped and queen still in situe, one on a "university site" has to have a swarm trap(H&S rules !!)....4 days later no swarm, no queen and a virgin running around trying to go on a mating flight

one in a feild..far far away had 20 QC i marked QC could not find the queen ...F***, left to return in twodays..funeral, and other problems, got back at 6 days expecting a virgin queen...errr one capped cell and HM still laying, 20plus pulled down

book. my bees cant read books, they dont even think straight

 

[MattC]

perhaps if colonies were forced to undergo proper annual appraisal with multisource feedback etc etc ......

And annual audit of their swarm behaviour of course. Some reflective learning from my girls wouldn't come amiss...