[tommysnare]

okay ill summarize and try not to write a book :
a couple weeks ago i made a nuc from a hive that was populating earlier and faster than the other hives in the yard by removing the queen and starting a nuc. obviosuly leaving the mother hive queenless. 2 days ago i made 3 more nucs with some other hives. today i checked to make sure they were maing QC's.the first hive i made a nuc from had plenty of queen cells and 3 were capped and large. i decided to cut them out and add them to the queenless hives which were making queen cells as well. of course they were only 2 days old. its not a big deal since all the hives are making plenty of their own cells. will they except these queen cells and continue to build the ones they started as well ? will they tear down the QC's and continue on their own cells ? or...will they tear down the ones they started and go with the QC's i gave them ?

it would be nice for them to take the queen cells so they dont have 2 weeks or more before a laying queen.
i cant remember if i have ever done this before....while knowing it. let me know ur thoughts.

 

[Wolfer]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

I've never done this either. Will they tear down theirs or will they swarm? I suspect the first queen born will kill all the rest.

If it was me I'd tear down all of the young ones once there were no more eggs to make one from.

 

[tommysnare]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

I've never done this either. Will they tear down theirs or will they swarm? I suspect the first queen born will kill all the rest.

If it was me I'd tear down all of the young ones once there were no more eggs to make one from.

well, we're definitely not even close to any signs of swarms yet. i did these a little earlier than normal because i wanted to created a brood break and the queens are a little older. plus, i have some people asking for some nucs if possible. i also want to run a nuc per hive this year and treat them as a second queen per hive and add capped brood to the production hives to boost populations. if that makes sense

i thought of tearing down the young cells in hopes that i can catch them just before the queens hatch and put them in some new nucs if some other hives can be split.

 

[tommysnare]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

*re read this:

i thought of tearing down the young cells but, i decided not to in hopes that i can catch them just before the queens hatch and put them in some new nucs if some other hives can be split.

 

[Tenbears]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

The bees will usually accept the cells, weather or not they tear down the unfinished cells they have, is a guess! Some do some do not. In any event only one will rule. The first queen to hatch will either kill the others in their cells or go on the hunt for other virgins. If you track your cap dates and move them to queenless nucs before a day or so before they emerge they will be virgin splits.

 

[WBVC]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

I also have one hive that is stronger than the others..it has 10 frames full of brood, pollen and nectar plus some capped honey.
I also have one package that is Queenless. They have put up lots of syrup and nectar but no brood, no eggs and no Queen cell that I can see...I thought there might be one but on closer inspection it was just a wobble in newly drawn comb

So I went into the strong hive and took a frame that had capped brood, open brood and a lot of eggs. I tried notching some of the egg cells...have no idea if I did it properly..just did did a line along the lower edge of a few cells. I gave this frame to the Queenless package.

I then did the same to another frame and put it I in a nuc box. I put in a frame feeder (which I may swap for a hive top one to make more room in the nuc), a frame of capped brood, the the notched frame, then a frame of pollen and open nectar, then a frame of undrawn wax foundation. I put some protein patty on top and closed them up.

I found the Queen in the strong hive...so lucky as she was on the 2nd frame I pulled! I marked her. I replaced the 4 frames I stole from that hive with undrawn wax foundation in the queens box. I put the Queens box on the bottom, then an excluder, then 2 empty drawn foundation honey dadants then the box with lots of capped brood, the notched inner cover , the hive top feeder, a vent rim and the lid.

I would have liked to put on 3 dadants but only had2 available...I guess I could add a couple of vent rims but with my luck they would build crazy comb in them!

I'll check the upper box for Queen cells in 5 days. If made I may try making up another nuc. Unfortunately that brood box only has drawn plastic foundation. Not so simple to take QC from. I suppose I could heat a metal trip and cut a cel out through the plastic...or buzz out with a cordless Drexel with a sharp disc.

Or...can one make #8 wire cages and put those over the QC in order to confine individual Queens as they hatch out?

Getting ahead of myself as don't know if I'll even get a Queen cell!

Again thanks to those who guided me through Finding a Queen. Also thanks to who ever it was that warned that one should test the marker before using in case the paint splotches out...I would have drowned the Queen today if I hadn't tested and set up the pen before aply it to her

 

[tommysnare]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

If you track your cap dates and move them to queenless nucs before a day or so before they emerge they will be virgin splits.

that is my plan.
how many days til they hatch after being capped ?

 

[Tenbears]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

8 days

 

[JRG13]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

They will usually tear down cells once a queen emerges, so if you come back in a week, don't be surprised all the new cells are gone.

 

[Dave1958]

Re: excepting capped queen cells ?

I've never done this either. Will they tear down theirs or will they swarm? I suspect the first queen born will kill all the rest.

If it was me I'd tear down all of the young ones once there were no more eggs to make one from.

Take them out closer to birth of the oldest and make more nucs. If you have. A 75% success you need more queens