queen cells

[Hal]

Hi All,
I am enjoying reading about the information you all give and looking/pondering on the hives that you are all building. I checked my hives last night and found that 3 of the five hives have built queen cells. These hives are just new this year. Any advice on why they are trying to raise new queens? One of the hives have as many as 30 queen cells. What should I do? Can I split my hives already? Help...

[Michael Bush]

If they are on the bottom of the combs they are trying to swarm. If they are at the top they are trying to supercede. If there are 30 of them, I'm guessing it's not a supercedure. Are you sure they are not just a cup? Is there a larva in each cell? Are they sealed?

Why? If they are indeed swarm cells (on the bottom and have larva in them or are sealed) then they may have gotten to crowded or they may have just gotten the urge to reproduce.