excessive wax on queen cells.

[BjornBee]

In one of my grafting frames, the bees just seem to be waxing everything as if to make comb. It looks like the queen cells are intact and they have not began to tear them down. I am to place them in nucs tomorrow and needed to find out how many boxes to prepare and took a peak today. Last week there was very nice queen cells started and now its not individual cells, but cells that are connected by comb.

Is this normal? I have grafted a good number of times and have never seen this? Is this just something that happens from time to time? Is it an indication of something? I would hate to throw them into nucs and find out later they are chilled and/or killed queen cells. Should I test with a light? Any advise? Thank you.

[James Burke]

Excessive comb building around queen cells is typical...especially this time of year. Carefully use a sharp razor blade and leave plenty of wax around the cells as you separate them.

I place my cells in "nursery bars" as soon as they are sealed (around the fourth or fifth day). The cells still stay nice warm and are not webbed together. There is also no threat from an early emerging queen.

Check it out by clicking on the link below.


http://www.jarsa.net/Incubator.htm

[TwT]

james thats a nice little design, got to try a few of them , whats the measurement detween the bars? and would it be ok to hatch the queens in it? thanks

[D. Murrell]

Hi Guys,

Always give those wax producing bees something to do in the starter. Include a frame of foundation and that will take care of the webbed cells.

Regards
Dennis

[JBJ]

I have also heard that bees will web the cells when they are short on space for incomming nectar, some bare foundation would be an excellent remedy in most cases, but an empty comb will often work to.
JBJ

[Antero]

Michael or Jim,

Is there a SURE way of knowing whether a queen cell is a supersedure cell,a swarm cell or an emergency cell?
Terry

[Jim Fischer]

I don't think that one can ever make any
statement about any aspect of swarming with
100% certainty, but...

A) Swarm cells are most often found on or near the
bottom bars of the combs in the uppermost brood
chamber(s).

B) Supersedure queen cells are generally found on
the "face" of comb in a frame.

C) Emergency Cells are located like (B), but one
finds a surprising lack of recently-laid eggs, and
no evidence of a queen when inspecting the hive.
Some say that emergency cells are smaller, and
"look sloppy", but I'm not sure these traits are
quantifiable enough to use when looking at a
single cell in isolation unless one has seen
a large number of queen cells over the years.

The overall hive condition can tell you more
about the queen cell than the queen cell itself:

1) If you see the current queen, you eliminate
"emergency". Ditto for lots of recent eggs.
There is a lag between the death of the queen
and a completed emergency cell.

2) If the colony is bursting at the seams,
the cell is type (A), and it is "swarm season",
this is also a clue. smile.gif

3) If the cell is type (B) or (C), and you see
both eggs and a "spotty" brood pattern of the open
brood, and/or you know that the queen is 2 years
old or more, then you likely have a supersedure.

4) Marked queens and good records can help in
the above. You should notice a weaker hive
and a less-than robust laying pattern long
before the bees decide to reward the queen's
long and loyal service by giving her a head
start before they chase her down to kill her.

Careful inspection of the cells can also tell
you much. Some lines of bees will build cells
(even multiple cells at the same time) that look
like any of (A) (B) or (C), but not complete them.
They are meaningless, to my knowledge.

Some cells may LOOK closed, but when the tip is
touched with a penknife blade, the end will open
up like the nose of a C5A transport:
http://www.cdmd.navy.mil/images/Header/dsrvc5a.jpg
in these cases, the queen has exited the cell,
and the scenario may have already played out,
(supercedure, swarm, or queen replacement)

One could write an entire book on the subject.
Most all beekeeping books discuss these issues
to one extent or another, but the diagnosis
process is inherently gestalt. You need to
consider all the clues, and everything you know
about the colony. The cell itself is only one
clue of many.

[Antero]

Excellent thank you Jim "good beekeeping is not for dummies"
Terry

[Michael Bush]

Jim covered it quite completely.