[dulley]

I split some hives and moved frames with eggs to the new hives. I checked one of the hives to make sure they were making a new queen. I did see a capped queen cell which had broken open just a little from being moved. Nurse bees were on it immediately. There also was one more queen cell which did not get damaged. My question is - if a queen cell is slightly damaged after it has been capped, can the workers repair it and it develops or will the queen larvae definitely die? Thanks, Jim

 

[Michael Bush]

> can the workers repair it and it develops or will the queen larvae definitely die?

I've seen it go both ways. They seem to know if she is damaged and they remove her. I always figure she's probably dead, but sometimes they surprise me.

 

[Andrey Limonchenko]

Since there are some undamaged cells you don't have to worry. Same thing happened to me last year.