[Jon Wolff]

I had a small swarm take up residence in a bait hive. They drew out several small combs. Besides pollen and uncapped honey, there were brood cells and a queen cell, all capped. The bees have since disappeared, and I discovered that the capped brood and queen cells are empty. Some of the caps had small holes in them while others were still sealed. I've never seen this in my other hives, or even heard of it. Why would they cap empty cells? Has anyone else seen this?

 

[txbeek]

Are you sure the cells were empty? I was just reading in ABC of Bee Culture that capped cells with small holes can be a sign of American Foul Brood. Not saying that's what it is, but check some of the capped cells carefully to see if there is black dead larva sticking to the cell walls. Make sure not to contaminate your other hives just to be safe.

 

[Jon Wolff]

Some of the cells had no holes in the caps and were empty. I'll check up on American Foul brood and compare the images. Thanks.

 

[Jon Wolff]

I watched a video. It doesn't seem to be foul brood. There isn't anything inside any of the cells. With foul brood there should be larvae that's turning liquid and draws out into "ropey" texture, according to what I saw.