[username00101]

Long story short, there's a colony that was producing queen cells from a frame of eggs that I added. This colony previously swarmed and was broodless for at least 30 days. When I added the frame of eggs, no other eggs were present.

It's been 5 days since I added the frame of mixed brood, and now I see numerous eggs everywhere in the hive. 50% of the cells have 1 or 2 eggs, and then maybe 25% of the cells have 3 eggs, and then maybe 25% of the cells have 4 eggs.

I added a queen 3 days ago, and she is released at this point.

I observed the bees butting into her, but not balling her. They didn't seem happy about her presence, but didn't seem aggressive either.

After doing a hive inspection, I found a couple of workers sticking their abdomens into cells. I watched 2 of them do this. I did NOT find a 2nd queen.

What should I do here? Currently, the mated queen I gave them is roaming around the hive.

I also noticed that there were multiple eggs in the numerous queen cells they were forming.

Thanks.

 

[RTBBEE]

It seems that your progression is a bit quick. If there was no laying worker when you added the brood it should aid in suspending them. When the hive started drawing a queen that said the laying workers were not represented as a queen to the hive. Or maybe there was a virgin in the hive and the lack of brood made them wish to supersede her. I believe I would have observed the situation a bit more as it is not beyond the realm of possibility for a queen to go as long as 30 days before laying. newly bred queens will also sometime lay multiple eggs in a cell until they get things figured out. Adding a bred queen may have caused additional confusion for both the hive and newly bred queen. So you may now have multiple queen in the same hive. This one will probably take some time and observation to know for sure!

 

[username00101]

It seems that your progression is a bit quick. If there was no laying worker when you added the brood it should aid in suspending them. When the hive started drawing a queen that said the laying workers were not represented as a queen to the hive. Or maybe there was a virgin in the hive and the lack of brood made them wish to supersede her. I believe I would have observed the situation a bit more as it is not beyond the realm of possibility for a queen to go as long as 30 days before laying. newly bred queens will also sometime lay multiple eggs in a cell until they get things figured out. Adding a bred queen may have caused additional confusion for both the hive and newly bred queen. So you may now have multiple queen in the same hive. This one will probably take some time and observation to know for sure!

Why would they go from having NO eggs, to having nearly every frame covered in eggs in just 5 days?

Can laying workers develop that quickly?

What about the fact that there's multiple eggs in the queen cells they're making? Isn't that a sure sign of laying workers?

 

[username00101]

Edit. I found them balling the queen in the one with the multiple eggs, so I transported her to another hive that is suspected queenless.

I put her into the hive and she flew right out of the top of the hive, and disappeared, I guess into one of the neighboring hives. I left the top open for a few minutes, but i'm not hopeful.

 

[RTBBEE]

Why would they go from having NO eggs, to having nearly every frame covered in eggs in just 5 days?

Can laying workers develop that quickly?

What about the fact that there's multiple eggs in the queen cells they're making? Isn't that a sure sign of laying workers?

A queen is capable of laying 2000 eggs a day. When a new queen filled up the open cells she may have been forced to lay in cells that already had eggs in them due to her lack of experience. The nurse bees will straighten this out. I believe at this point I would watch the hive for a few more days and see if they cap the brood as drone or worker 3.5 days as eggs 5 to 6 as larva. They should be capping larva soon. It will not hurt to add a frame of open brood just in case there is a laying worker situation. A frame a week for 3 weeks usually does the trick, Be sure to mark that frame so you do not confuse it a capped worker brood from the recipient hive!

 

[username00101]

I know for a fact that they rejected the queen I added.

How long does it take for laying workers to develop?

They went from being eggless to having an egg in every cell in 3 days.

I don't understand why they're developing queen cells. There's at least 5 queen cells with eggs at the bottom.

 

[RTBBEE]

as a rule it take about 3 weeks after the capping of the last open brood. for the hive to become hopelessly queenless and laying workers to become a problem. The fact that they balled the queen you introduces means they either have a queen or think they do. Eggless to loaded to the gunwale in 3 days makes me think you have a queen as laying workers are usually not that proficient.

They are developing queen cells because the long term eggless makes the nurse bees think they have a failing queen. They are seizing the opportunity in hopes of developing a new productive queen. If they were making a queen from a drone it will die when capped. If as I suspect you have a new fresh queen they will probably tare down the cells when they realize she is productive.

I suspect the queen made when you added the frame of brood 30 days ago has just now begun to lay. There is confusion in the hive. Again watch the eggs and see how they are capped if capped as worker brood you are good to go! If the first eggs were laid 3 days ago you should have capped brood next Sunday. If it is all drone then you will have to suspend the laying workers before introducing a new queen. I believe you will see worker brood from the timing and circumstances.

 

[username00101]

Update. All those eggs from a week ago are turning into drones.

BUT there's also a laying queen in there. She's been in there for 7 days. The workers seem to be attending to her.

It's too early to determine if she's been "accepted" but she's not dead, so idk what to do?

There's a number of cells with 1 egg, and a number of cells with 2 eggs. I just found the queen and left the hive alone.