When is a play cup a queen cell?

[ellypatt]

Does a play cup with an egg in count as a queen cell (and so proceed to AS), or does it need to be charged with royal jelly to be rated as such? I've been assuming the latter but wanted to check. Thanks.

 

[Walrus]

You are right, the latter


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[REDWOOD]

If there is an egg be on amber alert and be mindful of the fact that it only takes a bit of royal jelly to become a QC

 

[ellypatt]

Amber alert is my default state... thanks!

 

[REDWOOD]

Learn to plan ahead, you know now they might decide to swarm so next time you inspect take a spare nuc or hive with you and an AS is the easiest thing in the world to do if you find charged QC's

 

[ellypatt]

Three of my hives were like this last week. Only one had charged QCs today, will do AS tomorrow (kit ready, just!)
Thanks for the replies.

 

[Midland Beek]

An egg in a queen cell cup means nothing, and if you see one it might be gone if you have another look an hour or so later. Queens just lay eggs in every type of cell they come across - it's the workers that decide whether they want new queens or not. Queencells contain larvae or pupae.

 

[Polyanwood]

I think it is useful to see if they are wet or dry - easier than looking for tiny larvae, Dry = safe for now. Wet = do AS or something else or they will swarm

I think amber alert advice is good too

 

[alanf]

Three of my hives were like this last week. Only one had charged QCs today...

A few cups on a frame, one or two with a dry egg is probably less of a concern than cups across several frames, in likely QC positions and all with eggs. Saw one of those yesterday, I'm currently thinking of the time/weather window when I can do something. If one or two of those are three day old eggs, they could be sealed in five days and the old queen gone.