snip

>Due to inclement
> weather, it was six days before I could check on release of the new
> queen.

snip
> Now, seven days later, I find no larvae in the
> hive, an old opened queen cell, and an unmarked, large, light colored
> queen on the frames (the Buckfast queen was marked). Can anyone
> enlighten me on the sequence of events here?

The most probable scenario is that the old queen was just starting to be
superceded or was in the process of being superceded.  They had started a
queen cell but you did not see it when you looked for and killed the old
queen.

Now it is 13 days later and you have a queen (you do not say if it is
laying).  The bees have killed your introduced one (Buckfast).  This happens
more often than beekeepers think and you have only found it because you had
marked your bought queen.  If you had not marked your queen, you would most
likely have thought this young self set queen was the one you bought.

What to do?  Well at least let the self set queen start laying some brood to
keep your hive strength up.  Later you can decide if you want to again try
introducing a Buckfast.

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA

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