[krish]

Hi I am a new beekeeper in NJ. I noticed one queen cell, see the pic, I couldn't find a queen in this hive. Do you think it's a swarm cell or something else and what should I do about it? :s
There is very little brood and lots of space, so why would they swarm ?
Thanks for any help.

 

[22DPac]

It does look like a queen cell, to me. If you only see one an couldn't find the queen it may be that they have already swarmed with the queen or the bees may just want another queen, to supersede. If you only see one in the hive, I would let the bees work it out.

 

[krish]

Thank you. Yes I will just leave it alone and hope for the best.

 

[GaryG74]

Agree with 22dpac,looks like a swarm cell. Sometimes the bees just replace the queen for reasons only they know. You said very little brood--maybe that's the problem. Queen may not have mated well. Was this a package, split, or swarm? With a swarm, especially, it may be the queen is the mother queen that left with the swarm and now that the hive is established, it's time for her to be superseded. Keep us informed on your progress.

 

[Michael Bush]

It is a queen cell. Unless you have a lot more of them I would say it's probably not a swarm cell.

 

[krish]

It is a queen cell. Unless you have a lot more of them I would say it's probably not a swarm cell.

It's just one lonely queen cell. This hive started as a nuc this spring. BTW you have a superb website Michael !!!

 

[rwlaw]

The queen might've been failing, that's not a good brood pattern in the pic.