Allen asks what is the difference between a supercedure situation and the
conditions that result in an emergency queen cell?

My observations suggest that what I call supercedure cells (SC) are usually
started before the queen shows any sign of failure.  I'm sometimes surprised
how early bees start SCs.  And SC are sometimes started when a new queen is
introduced to a colony.  If these cells are destroyed when six to 12 days
old the bees usually don't start any new SCs.  The cells are always in the
upper third and on the face of the comb.  They are usually capped and a few
days from new queen emergence before the old queen disappears.  And
sometimes the new queen even starts laying and can be observed in the hive
for some weeks before the original marked queen disappears.  The cells are
usually long and wide.  When the queen emerges a large amount of royal jelly
is still in the bottom of the cell.

What I call emergency cells (EC) are usually built when the queen shows
evidence of failing such as with a spotty brood pattern, sometimes she has
damaged body parts, or has recently disappeared as when one sees a few eggs,
or one and two day old larvae (and older) but no queen.  The colony is
usually but not always noisy (scent fanning behavior).  The ECs usually
appear to be of the age as to have come either from a few of the last eggs
the queen laid or young larvae.  The bees seem to act upset and nervous,
sometimes acting jittery on the comb.  The ECs usually are about one half to
three quarters the size of a SC.  Sometimes the ECs are small enough to be
hid in various portions of the comb and you need to shake the bees off the
comb to be sure and not miss some.  ECs are sometimes on the face of the
comb and sometimes also at the edges of the comb or edges of holes through
the comb like swarm cells.  ECs usually don't have any royal jelly left in
them when the queen is seen emerging.  Sometimes I think a queen coming from
an EC is smaller than an SC queen but I can't say for sure since I have
never measured any queens.  (That would be an interesting study.)

EC queens appear to be less successful at heading a prosperous colony and
often fail after a short time (estimate 50% or more), though there are
exceptions.  SC queens usually do well (estimate 85-100%).  Perhaps that is
why I've thought that EC queens are inferior to SC queens.

James C. Bach
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