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Update on Supersedure cell

#1

OK so i found the queen again. She had an egg on the end of her abdomen, i watched her for a good 5 minutes and i think i saw her dipping in the cells but not very often. I do see eggs and small larvae in the hive with problems. The supersedure cell is full of jelly and about to be capped i believe. I’ve reached out to a local keeper to see if i can get a replacement queen. With both hives being new I’m worried about there being enough drones in the other hive to properly fertilize the virgin queen if i allow the supersedure. The other (polystyrene) hive is doing awesome. Brood everywhere and capped stores around them. very tight brood patterns, if there’s a space then it has an egg or larvae in it.

So… should i allow the supersedure? Requeen? I see now why people recommend two hives so that if one is failing then you can put a frame of brood in the other. I do have SOME drones in the other hive that came with the package but probably 10-15.

Advice please.

Queen Cell with royal Jelly:

20160508_183228.jpg2241x3984 1.86 MB

Starting to see new brood:

20160508_183111.jpg4250x2391 2.46 MB

Oddly shaped bullet cells… drones?

20160508_183010.jpg2391x4250 2.56 MB

#2

I would let them get on with it. You do not need drones from your other hive to mate with your new queen. Drones need to spend as long as possible in a DCA to maximise their chances of finding a queen to mate with so they tend to congregate in ones near to the hive so that they spend little time getting there. Virgins on the other hand will be mated as soon as they get to a DCA so to increase the chance of genetic diversity they fly to DCAs further afield. Your queens chances depend on you neighbours drones.

#3

You are under the misimpression that you can stop a supersedure. I don’t think you can nor do I think you should.

#4

@michael_bush @Dee My only issue is that up here where i am, I’m probably 20 miles from the nearest other keeper and that’s only one. I’ve hopefully got a replacement queen coming from my supplier, shouldn’t that solve the issue?

#5

I can’t say what’s out there for drones right now in your part of Alaska, but there are plenty here right now. I’d be tempted to let things run their course and see how it turns out. If the queen mates with some local survivors you’ll have much better stock than if you buy a queen from California or some other warm place…

#6

There is a good chance you have feral hives in the area if the area has a decent enough nectar flow to support bees at all. So even though there aren’t any beekeepers near you, you probably have bees, and drones near you anyway.