swarm cells.. what now?

[Irene S]

it looks like the bees may have superceded at some point.. the hive is still going strong but I found about five of WHAT I THINK ARE swarm cells on the bottom of some of the frames.

heres a photo of one:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3578305633_0801cd3b35.jpg?v=1243702159

I scraped them all off. I've added a super to the hive, but the bees have not moved up there yet for some reason (it's been two weeks)

here's a photo of one of the frames
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3394/3578305635_77cf4cc147.jpg?v=0

Any clues as to what I can be doing wrong? any suggestions? I keep hearing/reading that once a hive wants to swarm, nothing will stop it

I lost the other hive last winter, and I'm about to abandon all hope. I fear this bee business may be beyond me :cry: *okay a little self pity but things are not going well! this was supposed to be my GOOD hive!*

any ideas? I'm not sure what else i can do

[BeeAware]

Were the cells sealed? I couldn't tell from photo, but the bees will build cell cups routinely. They will not usually swarm until these cups contain eggs then larvae and are sealed. Don't dispair, for even if they do swarm, you will still have about half the bees and a new queen to work with. They will re-build the colony and next spring you can get ahead of the swarming impulse by keeping the brood nest open and adding supers before they are needed. There are ways to reduce the swarming problem to acceptable levels. Good luck.

bees@mysite.com

[BEES4U]

Here are two URL's that may help.

http://www.mainebeekeepers.org/Swarming_2-08.pdf

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1817.pdf
Ernie

[Cedar Hill]

"Any ideas?" Not only did you find queen cells but if you look closely at the bottom of the frame to the right of the sealed queen cell, you will see what appears to be a queen cell where a queen has already left quite some time ago, maybe even last year. Drone cells are there but where are the drones in the population of the bees occupying the frame...? It is a very good practice to requeen every other year to prevent swarming. This queen is laying well, the eggs can be seen and the pattern is good. Preparations for swarming...? Did you fill the dead out from last winter? It may be time to do so by splitting this hive and letting them make their own queen, since you tore down the queen cells. OMHO

[Sundance]

Time to open up the brood nest or make a nice split.