In message <[log in to unmask]>, Charles Harper
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>My opinion on supersedure queens is as such, in a queen loss the bees
>select lava of varying ages some too old to be a good queen over 3 days
>old this queen emerges first then cuts all the good queens leaving a
>inferior queen to head the hive.
This is not supersedure to my mind. Supersedure cells are cells that are
constructed, developed and hatched whilst the old queen continues and
the colony does not swarm. The classic signs are the placement of the
cell - in the centre of the nest, perhaps high on the comb, even on the
top bar - and the numbers of cells - often only 1, sometimes 2 or 3 only
- and their shape - proud and central in the gap. Can we agree that the
situation you have described is a classic emergency cell one which does
indeed require intervention?

In the cases where I have accidentally killed the queen (I suggest this
is the most likely scenario, especially when you inspect regularly,
because you do have a native bee, want to preserve the best local traits
and don't need to buy in packages every year or replace all your queens
with young ones) I have discovered this 7 days later and been able to
cull the sealed cells, leaving an unsealed one. Had I waited 10 days, I
would have the scenario you describe, of a runt queen.

For the record, on local selection rather than importing bees, we often
have 3rd year queens out-producing 1st year queens - in fact my best
producing queen ever was 3 years old - over 200lb of honey in a static
apiary where the local average of the hobbyist is around the 40lb
mark.It beat the rest of the apiary which had several hives producing
160lb and others 100lb. In this case, and in this apiary, the hives are
larger, with 14" square frames. So the colony had also produced massive
amounts of brood as well. I now have a good strain in this apiary and it
is my preferred mating site.
--
James Kilty

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