It appears I have swarm/ Supercedure cells (I read that swarm cells are usually on the bottom and supercedure cells in middle and emergency cells are all over the place)… the question now is how should I handle this…? With all the research I have done I am thinking about simulating the swarm… Any advice on how/if I should do this? How much time should/will I have to stop them from swarming? Does weather play a role? I know the next (2) evenings will be in the Low 30’s in NW Georgia according to the weather channels predictions… This is frame 9 from right Both sides look about the same These i thnk were frame 3 from right
I see nothing that is definitely a queen cell. Two possible queen cells are covered with bees, so I can't see for sure. The others are queen cups, not cells. If the two are cells, they are supercedure or emergency. They are not swarm cells. If they are full, I would add a box. If the box was the same size as already there, I would take a couple frames from it and put in the new, replacing them with empties from the new. That will decongest the brood chamber and give them a start in the new box.
Queen cup is a stage of a queen cell? I apologize for the poor images... the rain started coming down...
A queen cup is a larger wax cell oriented correctly to produce a queen. (Up and down...not straight out as a worker or drone cell) The queen cup becomes a queen cells once there is an egg placed and they begin to raise a queen. There is a queen cup worth looking into too. Your last photo looks like the beginning of a queen cell. The cells on top are drones. But the bottom one is a queen cup and I get the sense from what I'm looking at, that it will be filled if not already. BTW...the brood pattern from that queen is excellent.
I did open one of the cell/cups the 1st day I noticed to see if in fact a queen was being raised... ...I did see the queen recently (with help from my son’s sharp eyes), could someone please explain possible scenarios why the girls are producing supercedure or emergency cells? Also I mentioned that we are do for some cold temps around 30 and 28 degrees in NW GA Mon -Tues eve... will it be more difficult for the cluster to maintain warmer temperatures in the hive if I add a box? Thank you in advance for your help!
The reasons for supersedure cells could be many. They include a failing queen (decreased egg laying or lower pheromone levels) an injured queen, a dead queen. A good guide in swarm cells are on the bottom of the frame and supersedure cells are on the face of the comb. But that is not cast in stone. With beekeepers using full sheet of foundation and plastic foundation, sometimes bees just build them where they can.
