In a message dated 5/9/99 1:03:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

> Well, I went into my new (and only) hive for the third time ever
>  today, and I still haven't seen the queen.  I have seen some eggs, some
>  standing and some lying down in the cell, not lots, but that may have been
>  the poor light.   Over a dozen swarm cells (which I cut out).  And two more
>  supersedure cells.  I added third hive body with undrawn frames, putting a
>  couple of frames of brood and a couple more of honey into it.  I left the
>  supersedure cells in the hive this time.
>
>  My questions are:
>
>  Should I cut those supersedure cells out?
>  How can a newbie like me tell whether the hive is queenright?
>  Will adding the new super & frames cut down on the swarm cells?


    Where, oh where does this idea of cutting cells originate and persist?
Can we not trust our bees, that have been requeening themselves for many
milennia, without our help, to know when a queen is not up to par?

    All you beekeepers who cut queen cells. PLEASE  GIVE IT UP!  Stop telling
newbies to do it.   It doesn't work to stop swarming, and it kills their
chances to naturally requeen themselves, often by the time the beekeeper sees
they MUST have a new queen, it is too late.  Bees naturally requeen
themselves a LOT more often than most beekeepers suspect. And they ususally
do it without a break in brood cycle, or productivity. LET THEM BEE!

     A newly established hive is not in danger of swarming, no matter where
the cells occur. And, as you say, Amy, you are giving them adequate room.
They are telling you that the queen is poorly mated, and they only have a
short time left, to get fertilized eggs for requeening.

    The queen should mate with 12 -15 drones. If the weather was adverse, or
the process got interrupted, she may have only mated with a couple drones.
SHE IS RUNNING OUT OF SEMEN, and will soon fail. LET the BEES DO THEIR JOB.

    Don't fight the bees. Learn to cooperate with them. Don't micromanage
them.

    This is clearly a case of supersedure, but the same principle holds for
swarminess. You just simply cannot stop bees from swarming by cutting cells.
You might delay them, but you won't stop them. Meanwhile, you keep them in an
uproar. If they are bent on reproduction, HELP THEM REPRODUCE and get it over
with......

    Commercial beekeepers do not have the time to fiddle with their bees, so
they have arrived at procedures that work, by letting the bees do their own
thing, as much as possible.  Every hobbyist should read and reread Allen
Dicks recent comments on walk away splits, and requeening by cell, etc. There
is much wisdom here. I am going to keep all his recent comments in a special
folder, because they are so good.

    Hobbyists may think that the commercial beekeepers may have a lot
different situation. But I want to assure you; the bees are the same!
Procedures worked out by observant and thinking beekeepers with thousands of
hives, will also work in the backyard with three or four.  And THANK YOU,
ALLEN, for taking the time to write out all your thinking on this.

    Please!  All you swarm cell cutters; STOP retelling this OLD WIVES TALE!
I can only think of one good reason to cut a cell, that is to move a "ripe"
cell to a colony that needs one.....

[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
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