Ed,
 
It is not uncommon to find two queens in the same hive. However, there are
several possibilites you must consider:
 
1) Are the two queens mated? Or one is mated while the other is a virgin?
If you look at them carefully you can judge from their body size and
behaviour into which category they fit. Virgin queens are smaller and walk
nervously over the combs while mated queens have larger abdomens and walk
calmly.
 
2) You might have an old queen ready to be superseded by her daughter. If
this is the case you might look carefully the brood combs and see if you
come across a recently hatched queen cell.
But considering the time of the season in the northern hemisphere (end of
fall) I think it is a bit difficult to have a hive wanting to replace its
queen at this time of the year when there is a shortage or complete absence
of drones. Bees evolved through millions of years and those who superseded
their queens at wrong times were weeded out by natural selection. This is
so because when no drones are available, the queen cannot get mated
therefore she becomes a drone layer and the colony perishes sooner or
later.
 
3) Another possibility, widely studied by Dr. Clayton Farrar -an
entomologist who designed a quite good Two Queen System for increased honey
production- is that you have a hive that has two mated queens coexisting
harmoniously both of them laying eggs for a single hive. This situation is
normal in about 5% of the hives and may last from one week to one year. 
 
Hope this clarifies the matter.
 
Regards.
 
 
Martín Braunstein
Malka Cabaña Apícola
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
 
----------
> From: Edward A Craft Jr <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: 
> Date: miércoles 26 de noviembre de 1997 6:20
> 
>   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 ?
>           Thanks
>                 Ed
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ed Craft
> 14887 Oldham Dr
> Orlando, FL 32826