My vote is with them just trying to drive you crazy. Mine seem to be masters of it. (driving ME crazy that is)
Queen's in there but so are capped queen cells
What gives with these guys?? There's a queen in my split (I think she's actually the queen from my package and I just didn't spot her when I moved the brood frames, le sigh). There are also tons of eggs, in a nice pattern, filling nearly all the empty cells. Each egg is standing on its little tip, smack dab in the center bottom of the cell, so I'm basing my statement of her presence based on the eggies.
There was also a capped queen cell. I can't figure out what they're doing. There's plenty of room for them to expand, so I can't believe they want to swarm. I'm feeding them, so they shouldn't be feeling like they need to move on or create a queen because of being foodless. So. If they have lots of room and lots of food, are they making queen cells because the queen is failing? Or are they just trying to drive me crazy? It was on the bottom of the frame, so I know it's "supposed" to be a swarm cell, but I just can't figure how they'd feel the need to swarm.
Gadzooks, I need to find a local beek to talk to.
There was also a capped queen cell. I can't figure out what they're doing. There's plenty of room for them to expand, so I can't believe they want to swarm. I'm feeding them, so they shouldn't be feeling like they need to move on or create a queen because of being foodless. So. If they have lots of room and lots of food, are they making queen cells because the queen is failing? Or are they just trying to drive me crazy? It was on the bottom of the frame, so I know it's "supposed" to be a swarm cell, but I just can't figure how they'd feel the need to swarm.
Gadzooks, I need to find a local beek to talk to.
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I know, right? I keep making mistakes and they keep going regardless. *whew* Kinda like my kids. :applause:
Normally there are many swarm cells if they're getting ready to swarm. Supercedure and emergency cells can be on the bottom of the frame also, wherever they have a proper age larva. Sometimes, they'll build a cell out and then tear it down. Russians are very prolific at this. Don't do anything crazy, let them take care of the problem!
If I can chime in... You say they have lots of room. Are all the frames fully drawn out? We've got some rockstar bees and queens that are laying in every available cell as they're getting drawn out and the bees are putting up the occasional queen cell. Honestly when they put up a queen cell and she's laying tight patterns and have lots of room, we pull the queen cell out and take note for the next inspection.
They aren't drawn out; I put some new frames in when I did the split, so both deeps have empty frames for them to work. I'm resisting the urge to go back in before the weekend, but I'll update then. I think I need a bunch of rubber bands, too, because I can't keep some of the foundation in for the life of me. Frustrating! I much prefer the plastic frames, if only for that reason. If it comes before my inspection, I'm just going to swap them out.
I have had good success using bobby pins through the holes on the end bars to keep foundation straight and attached. Two on each end of a deep really tighten things up.
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