Dilema

[Sundance]

I have 30 queens coming in next week.......

Yesterday I was working the home yard and one of my double deeps was just loaded. I mean packed. I did not detect swarm cells which amazed me.

Question:

Can I just take off the top deep and start a new colony? Letting them raise a new queen? Or would it be better to wait for the queens? (I may be short queens the way it looks anyway).

Thanks

[Michael Bush]

If there is larvae of the right age in the top deep, sure. But I'd make sure there is and maybe shake some extra bees in. Better yet, do a cut down split and sort the open brood and honey out for the new split and leave the capped and emerging at the old location. Put the queen one place and leave some eggs the other place. It's probably the right time for one where you are.

[Sundance]

Thanks Michael.......... I'll go the cut down route.