Strange behavior in once queenless hive

[IndianaHoney]

Something very strange happened, and I've been trying to figure it out for the past three days. Here is my log:

Location: Baker's

Hive: Baker 3
Queen: Buckfast
Color: Light with dark tip on tail
Queen Age: 2007

April 2st: Hive came through winter strong. Brood pattern solid. Still has about 7 deep frames of honey.

May 7th: Split into Baker 1 and Baker 5 to replace dead hives. Queen went to Baker 1. Russian ID "RUS DB 8 0508" given to replace queen.

May 14th: Opened hive, pulled out queen cage. Queen alive, workers biting cage, and trying to sting. Found capped queen cell, removed "RUS DB 8 0508" to make another split with her.

May 21st: Checked for strength of hive. Most brood has emerged, still some present, but all capped, no eggs. Found uncapped queen cell? Larva present in queen cell. Looked for a queen, nothing found.

May 28th: Checked for hive strength. Estimated bees cover six frames. Found uncapped superseadure (sp?) queen cell on inside of frame six (note for readers: This was not a common emergency queen cell, but a supersead queen cell, large and built out from the frame, not from an existing cell). Larva present in queen cell. Looked for queen, nothing found

June 7th: Checked hive because of confussion over queen cells. Found a queen, very dark color like a Carni. No brood, no eggs. Some workers trying to attend, but queen moving fast. Queen as long as most other queens, but looks a little thinner. Workers are drawing out starter strips in top deep, and have drawn a strip of comb down to bottom of frames 4-7. Cells appear to be brood cells. Queen found on frame 6, near newly drawn comb. Bottom deep full of honey/nectar. Closed hive. Recheck on June 14th.

Ok, sorry for the long notes. But what would you guys guess happened here? My take on this is:

May 14th, I can understand the queen cell here.

May 21st, how the heck did they come up with an uncapped queen cell with larva two weeks after a laying queen was removed?

May 28th, what the &*^%? Where are these uncapped queen cells comming from?

June 7th, if this is the queen from the first capped queen cell found on May 14th, shouldn't she be laying by now? If unmated, why would the workers be tending her?

Has this ever happened to anyone? If so, what was the outcome, and what do you think happened?

[okb]

Can bees move eggs? :confused:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219751

[IndianaHoney]

That is a very interesting thing. I would have to vote yes, they can move an egg. But where would they get it from if there are none in the hive? In that thread, it was mentioned that maybe they steal them. I would suggest that they do not steal them, but maybe make an offering for them. We do know that sometimes foragers will show up at another hive and will be let in by the guard bees if the forager has nectar. Perhaps, this so called Telytoke (sp?) does not exist, but that another hive gives them an egg in exchange for something. Or maybe it does exist; after all we have frogs that can change genders. Nature always finds a way.

But I guess the answers to my questions will remain a mystery until researchers figure these things out.

[tecumseh]

Indiana Honey writes:
May 7th: Split into Baker 1 and Baker 5 to replace dead hives. Queen went to Baker 1. Russian ID "RUS DB 8 0508" given to replace queen.

May 14th: Opened hive, pulled out queen cage. Queen alive, workers biting cage, and trying to sting. Found capped queen cell, removed "RUS DB 8 0508" to make another split with her.

tecumseh:
two possible explanations...

1)you had two queens in the original hive.

2) the second possibilty is.... you had a capped queen cell a week after making the split. likely??? this hive was a fixin' to swarm when you did the split. constant (likely a bit excessive) manipulation may have killed (via balling) a new virgin queen or so along the way. the queen seen on June 7 should approxiate the 'bee math' necessary for one begun on or about May 7.

[IndianaHoney]

So the likely explination is that I missed an uncapped queen cell on May 14th, and that they had another queen that I didn't find? That means that she should be laying about now?

[JoeMcc]

So the likely explination is that I missed an uncapped queen cell on May 14th, and that they had another queen that I didn't find? That means that she should be laying about now?

If the weather has been favorable...she should be laying. Interesting... posted so I can get email alerts to your follow ups. Take a look and let us know.

JoeMcc

[IndianaHoney]

Ok, I plan to just do a quick check for brood on Saterday, weather permitting.