:doh: I need a bit of advice on handling a split that has undergone a bit of unintended 'frame manipulation'...
My father-in-law got his nuc ~ 5/16, and it was nearly overflowing with 4 brood frames and 1 overdrawn frame of honey. Everything looked good when we moved them into a deep brood body and in 4 more frames with new wax foundation (we were planning on 10-frame, but the overdrawn frame of honey (1 3/4-2" wide!) has kept us limited to 9 in the box. They're taking _some_ feed but I'm happy to say they're bringing in plenty of pollen and nectar and drawing out the 4 new frames.
However, we went into the hive on Sunday and found 3-4 swarm cells, and 1 supercedure cell (all uncapped). I'm assuming that the crowding in the original nuc and subsequently being honeybound, they're preping to swarm. I have spotted some larvae but no queen (unmarked, and presumably on a forced diet as the hive pushes her to swarm)
Now, this is where your's truly, the bumbling beekeeper, gets involved and starts mucking with things...
we scrapped off all the supercedure/swarm cells except one, and I pulled the frame with the last swarm cell, (bottom of the frame, uncapped & larvae visible inside) and put it in a nuc with some partially drawn foundation to try and get a split going. However, when I got the nuc to my other yard, I found that the cardboard nuc had failed to hold the frame ears high enough and the swarm cell had been in contact with the bottom of the nuc.
I saw workers on the slightly misshapen swarm cell this morning, and I _hope_ that they do a bit of remodeling on the edges of her cell opening, fix her cell, and continue to raise themselves a queen. Does anyone have any words of wisdom or suggestions as to what I should be looking for? Will they destroy the swarm cell if it's no longer viable, or do I need to continue monitoring the nuc to see if they're queenless and unable to raise another without young eggs?
A) is there anything specific I should be watching for or should I assume that I've done enough damage to assume whatever stings I get and return the frame to the original hive before I get a vote of 'no confidence' and an abandoned nuc?
B) any suggestions for handling frames with cells drawn off their bottom?
BTW: my FIL went ahead and re-purposed what was a 'birdhouse-cam' into a beehive-cam
My father-in-law got his nuc ~ 5/16, and it was nearly overflowing with 4 brood frames and 1 overdrawn frame of honey. Everything looked good when we moved them into a deep brood body and in 4 more frames with new wax foundation (we were planning on 10-frame, but the overdrawn frame of honey (1 3/4-2" wide!) has kept us limited to 9 in the box. They're taking _some_ feed but I'm happy to say they're bringing in plenty of pollen and nectar and drawing out the 4 new frames.
However, we went into the hive on Sunday and found 3-4 swarm cells, and 1 supercedure cell (all uncapped). I'm assuming that the crowding in the original nuc and subsequently being honeybound, they're preping to swarm. I have spotted some larvae but no queen (unmarked, and presumably on a forced diet as the hive pushes her to swarm)
Now, this is where your's truly, the bumbling beekeeper, gets involved and starts mucking with things...
we scrapped off all the supercedure/swarm cells except one, and I pulled the frame with the last swarm cell, (bottom of the frame, uncapped & larvae visible inside) and put it in a nuc with some partially drawn foundation to try and get a split going. However, when I got the nuc to my other yard, I found that the cardboard nuc had failed to hold the frame ears high enough and the swarm cell had been in contact with the bottom of the nuc.
I saw workers on the slightly misshapen swarm cell this morning, and I _hope_ that they do a bit of remodeling on the edges of her cell opening, fix her cell, and continue to raise themselves a queen. Does anyone have any words of wisdom or suggestions as to what I should be looking for? Will they destroy the swarm cell if it's no longer viable, or do I need to continue monitoring the nuc to see if they're queenless and unable to raise another without young eggs?
A) is there anything specific I should be watching for or should I assume that I've done enough damage to assume whatever stings I get and return the frame to the original hive before I get a vote of 'no confidence' and an abandoned nuc?
B) any suggestions for handling frames with cells drawn off their bottom?
BTW: my FIL went ahead and re-purposed what was a 'birdhouse-cam' into a beehive-cam