What???? how's there brood in a mating nuc

[wayacoyote]

Ok, this is weird. I separated some frames to go into a mating nuc, some 14 days or so ago. Since then, a queen has hatched out (I think). She's too young to have mated and laid. Besides, the brood is fairly old. And it is only 2 larva. One is closed to being capped and looks to be a drone. The other is too young to tell yet.

All I can say is "what?" "why?" and "how?"
I'll let you all decide how to finish those questions.

Waya

[George Fergusson]

Golly Waya. Make sure when you built the nuc that you didn't get the queen in there by mistake. I did that last summer... then tried to introduce a queen. Didn't work. Went and checked the hives I got the frames from and sure enough, one was queenless.

This is probably not your problem but it's worth checking. If you got the queen in there I'd expect more than 2 cells of brood, probably. Maybe your bees are stealing eggs from another hive..

[Velbert]

Workers migh Have started to lay going 2 weeks queenless

[wayacoyote]

George,
I was afraid that someone would say that they are stealing eggs... LOL Here we go with that discussion. But that's actually all I can think of. The old queen is marked and IS in the old hive still. But otherwise that would be a good possiblility. Glad I marked her. But then we must wonder, why steal a drone egg?

Velbert,
That's another thing I considered. And I almost posted the question whether a worker will stop laying if she hasn't done it long and the queen emerges. There were only two larva, and not tiny ones, and no eggs to be seen. Perhaps one started laying and inadvertently died?


The plot thickens!
Waya

[tecumseh]

at day 14 the new queen could be laying. so the question is how new eggs and brood do you have? if quite a bit of young stuff I would think you took the old queen with you when you made up the nuc.

[dbolt]

1 hive 2 queens?

[iddee]

Ok, don't ask me when or where, but I have read that it is not uncommon for a worker to lay an egg now and then, even in a queenright hive. If that is the only two brood in the hive, I would guess that is what happened.