In a message dated 97-11-26 19:26:26 EST, [log in to unmask] (Edward A Craft
Jr) writes:
 
<<   I was out making splits today. I ran across a hive with 2 queens.
 Both of them were on the same frame. I've never seen this before.
 Can anyone explain how this could happen ? >>
 
   I suspect it happens more than we realize. Most likely it was a
mother/daugher situation, because sister queens would be more likely to
fight. The mother has ceased giving off sufficient pheromones for them to
recognize her as a queen. I've seen old, tattered queens hang around for a
month or so, after being superceded.
 
   Occasionally (especially when I draw brood above an excluder), the bees
will raise a queen above the excluder. After awhile they seem to get used to
each other. When I pull the excluder, they may coexist for quite a while
before one disappears.
 
   In the fall I sometimes combine two colonies, when one is weak, because
the weak colony has little chance of survival. I am sometimes surprised to
find that both queens coexisted all winter.
 
   These are all exceptions, but seem to happen more often than most
beekeepers would expect.
 
   [log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
 
Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm