Supercedure cells and swarm cells mixture

[shoefly]

Yesterday, I was in a strong hive that has wintered well and has about 12 frames of brood. I found several swarm cells hanging off the bottom of a few frames and I also found two supercedure cells half way up one of the frames. First question, what is up with that?

I removed a total of six frames with queen cells and whatever bees crawled around on them and made two nucs out of them by adding additional frames of honey and pollen. The nucs I closed up with a screen and left them in the garage overnight. Second question, once I relocate them today to a far away location are the nucs going to be fine raising new queens?

I left some of the swarm cells in the original hive. Third question, what is going to happen now to this hive? Are they going to swarm or be content enough to just replace the queen?

[Michael Bush]

>Yesterday, I was in a strong hive that has wintered well and has about 12 frames of brood. I found several swarm cells hanging off the bottom of a few frames and I also found two supercedure cells half way up one of the frames. First question, what is up with that?

You assume a swarm cell can't be high up and a supercedure can't be on the bottom. Neither is a safe assumption. My buess is since there are more on the bottoms, and you have 12 frames of brood, that they are swarm cells. All of them.

>I removed a total of six frames with queen cells and whatever bees crawled around on them and made two nucs out of them by adding additional frames of honey and pollen. The nucs I closed up with a screen and left them in the garage overnight. Second question, once I relocate them today to a far away location are the nucs going to be fine raising new queens?

If you did the split and didn't relocate them yet and they were free flying, then there is no reason to relocate them at all unless you prefer them at the new location. The field bees will already have drifted back. Shake some extra bees in to make up for the drift and call it good. But they will probably mate fine either place. No guarentees, of course.

>I left some of the swarm cells in the original hive.

I would also.

> Third question, what is going to happen now to this hive? Are they going to swarm or be content enough to just replace the queen?

"You never can tell with bees" -- Winnie the Pooh.

Probably they will not swarm and will be content believing that they already HAVE swarmed.