Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

Top bar queen cells

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Steven Ogborn 
#1 ·
I noticed that after a good start this spring my hive numbers were going down, upon an inspection I found queen cells in the hive on the 5th of May. I thought there was one that was sealed so I went back in on the 12th but could not tell that a queen had hatched. I went back in on the 14th and took some pictures maybe you can help me out with what I am looking at.








As you can see there are alot of cells and I only see 2 that are capped & the last photo I don't know if these are eggs or something else.

Thanks for the advice
 
See less See more
8
#2 ·
It's hard to tell from the small pictures, but the fourth from the top looks like a hatched cell to me. Their numbers have dropped? When was the last time you saw the old queen? I suspect that this have may have already swarmed.
 
#3 ·
I did not look for them to swarm they still had more then half the hive empty with empty bars so they were not out of room.
I have never seen the queen in this hive I got it as a swarm last April and after a cross comb experience I left several bars crossed where the brood combs were and let them have time to get things straight.
All the combs are now straight and of course now it does not seem as a queen is in the hive. I did not know if there would still be capped queen cells if one had hatched.
 
#4 ·
Couple more questions on this.
There seems to be around 10-12 cells total in this hive is that common for a hive only about half built out?
I have a swarm from a couple weeks ago doing good, should I take a couple bars of brood and put in with this hive?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top