Spring Inspection Post #2

[Jeff Gratton]

These pictures are from a colony I inspected last weekend.

There located in Ventura County, California. I found about a dozen swarm cells in it. -- Time to make splits?

I took one of the cells and installed it in another of my colonies
It looks like that queen bought the farm.

That’s a temporary solution as I’m ordering queens for the splits and to replace the queens of unknown origin.

The orange trees and avocado are coming into bloom so time’s short.

http://www.jeffreys-apiary.com/images/bees-05.gif
http://www.jeffreys-apiary.com/images/bees-06.gif
http://www.jeffreys-apiary.com/images/bees-07.gif
http://www.jeffreys-apiary.com/images/bees-08.gif

[Ron Young]

This looks like a swarm cell as apposed to a supercedure cell. Aren't supercedure cells on the side of the frame, middle or higher on the comb? And swarm cells across the bottom.

[Jeff Gratton]

Your right, they are swarm, I corrected above -Thanks

[peggjam]

"Aren't supercedure cells on the side of the frame"

They appear wherever the bees find a larva young enough to make a queen from. Which is of course somewhere on the face of the comb.:)