Hi folks, for the first time I had a hive swarm on me, on May 15 (so 15 days ago). Following the advice I got here, a few days later I narrowed that hive down to the two nicest-looking capped queen cells. Checking in on them today, those two queen cells are still there and unopened, with the tips of them dark brown. There are still some capped cells but no eggs or larvae, and several small queen cups started.
How do you interpret this? Unless I missed a third queen cell somewhere and she came out first, I assume I'm still queenless at the moment. I guess those two queen cells are dead for some reason? I've never seen that before. What about those queen cups... it seems like even with a cup, there's nobody left to lay new eggs in them.
My thought right now is to wait one more week to be sure there's not still a virgin queen in play. After that, I guess to try moving over a frame of eggs from another hive and let them start requeening again? (The second colony superseded and just started laying, so I'd like to give them another week to get up to speed.) Any input is appreciated.
How do you interpret this? Unless I missed a third queen cell somewhere and she came out first, I assume I'm still queenless at the moment. I guess those two queen cells are dead for some reason? I've never seen that before. What about those queen cups... it seems like even with a cup, there's nobody left to lay new eggs in them.
My thought right now is to wait one more week to be sure there's not still a virgin queen in play. After that, I guess to try moving over a frame of eggs from another hive and let them start requeening again? (The second colony superseded and just started laying, so I'd like to give them another week to get up to speed.) Any input is appreciated.