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Author Topic: New Hive With Queen Cells  (Read 1393 times)

Offline Beeboy01

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New Hive With Queen Cells
« on: May 24, 2013, 01:20:43 pm »
Just checked a new hive that came from a nuc about two months ago. It's in a 10 frame deep with another deep on top divided with a queen excluder. The brood box is full of brood and has a lot of young queen cells in it, I pulled two frames of brood with some queen cells into another hive that wasn't queen right but there still are a lot of other queen cells in the new hive. Any ideas as to what to do? I don't want a swarm.

Offline D Coates

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Re: New Hive With Queen Cells
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2013, 02:00:07 pm »
Make a nuc.  Steal the queen with 2-3 frames of brood/stores and couple empty frames and make a 5 frame nuc.  Watch the hive to make sure it requeens with the open queen cells.  It'll knock down the swarming impulses and you've got 2 nucs.
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Offline gov1623

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Re: New Hive With Queen Cells
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2013, 03:22:59 pm »
If I find a hive that is about to swarm I remove the queen with a couple frames of brood and bees. Then come back in about a week and cut out all but two swarm cells. Cutting out all but two cells usually stops them from throwing off after swarms.  I save the queen cells that I cut out and put in Matting Nucs. A big swarming hive makes some very nice queens.
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Offline Beeboy01

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Re: New Hive With Queen Cells
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2013, 11:40:19 pm »
There is enough brood in the new hive to make a strong nuc and I have a 5 frame nuc box sitting in the shed so I'll go that route.  Hate to break up a good hive but when a lot of queen cells appear the hive is getting ready to swarm. Do you think that having a queen excluder on top of a single brood box kicked the hive into swarm mode. I usually won't use a queen excluder and have brood in at least two boxes, this is the first time I'm running only one brood box with an excluder.