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It can be difficult to differentiate among queen cells constructed for <br /> imminent swarming, supersedure, or due to an emergency. In Minnesota, 4 <br /> swarm preparations normally occur in late May or early June and the • <br /> colony will be very crowded with bees. The queen slowly stops laying ., <br /> eggs before swarming so the beekeeper may or may not observe eggs. ' <br /> li <br /> When colonies have the impulse to swarm and many queen cells are t <br /> present, it is usually too late for the beekeeper to prevent the colony from <br /> swarming. The queen cells often will be located on the face or along the <br /> lower edge of the wax combs, where the bees have space to construct <br /> these vertically hanging cells within the crowded nest. Our management _. <br /> practices encourage beekeepers to divide colonies before the colony <br /> builds swarm cells. <br /> A supersedure event can happen any time from April through September. <br /> The old queen is usually present and laying eggs. Sometimes the <br /> egg-laying pattern of the old queen is haphazard and the colony may <br /> be weak. Other times, her egg-laying pattern seems adequate to the ..7'.:,*L''. <br /> ry'' <br /> beekeeper but apparently not to the bees. During supersedure, bees <br /> construct queen cells both on the face and lower edge of the combs. <br /> In contrast, there will be no eggs present in the nest during emergency +°° <br /> queen rearing, and the workers will rear new queens from existing larvae "� '"-"-- -'4` <br /> laid by the recently-deceased queen. New beekeepers often destroy <br /> queen cells before they know the reason for their presence in the hive. If <br /> a colony is rearing queens to supersede or replace an old or deceased Figure 14 Empty queen cell cups often <br /> queen, it is best to let the colony finish the process. Remember that it called"play cups." • <br /> may take 2-3 weeks for a new queen to develop, mate, and begin laying <br /> eggs (Figure 15). Patience is required. With experience, you can learn <br /> ways to requeen your colony yourself. <br /> Figure 13.A look into a queen cell with a developing larva floating in a pool of royal jelly <br /> (photo by Judy Griesedieck). <br /> INT <br /> t '4144 .* Words of <br /> �� Wisdom. x <br /> A <br /> Queen Cells <br /> + ,�t . Our advice for new <br /> beekeepers that have <br /> questions about queen cells <br /> is: When in doubt, do nothing. <br /> Honey bees have existed on <br /> earth for over 50 million years. <br /> �,r They are good at what they • <br /> 4 do and can figure out these <br /> • <br /> puzzling situations quite easily. <br /> Beekeeping in Northern Climates 12 <br />