REGARDING RE> Rearranging query Regarding the following unsigned post: "This is my second year with one hive(I'll be setting up one more in a few weeks) and I was a little worried about them because we'd had such a poor spring here(Pacific Northwest, rain, cool, rain, cool, etc). Last Sunday a more experienced neighbor came over to give me a hand and started to take my boxes apart. He scolded me for my error of wintering them with 2 deeps and one shallow with the excluder on top(I'd left one more half-filled shallow on TOP of the excluder and added another shallow a few weeks ago) and, after setting aside the two top shallow supers began to disassemble the shallow frames below the excluder(all this in cloudy 50 degree weather---the bees were SOME upset!) After removing 5 frames (full of honey and covered with bees) and exposing a bunch of hatching full growth larvae wich appeared to have been built onto the bottom of the frames, I finally prevailed on him to let well enough alone and he replaced one frame of honey(leaving a large hole in that shallow super)and we put it all back together. He brushed the bees off the 4 combs of honey(mostly capped but quite a bit uncapped) onto the hive entrance(where they quickly reentered the hive) and I took those into the house. I noticed, while the hive was open, several large cells along the bottom of 2 of the frames we removed and one that we did not(so there may've been even more in the 3 frames we couldn't see(not to mention the 20 deep BC frames below it). I assume these to've been Q-cells(how does one differentiate from Drones?)and am wondering at their production. Why there? Why now? So my questions are: 1)Since the bees have had a week to settle down now, should I just leave well enough alone until my new Queen arrives(2-3 wks)?...or shall I open 'er up and replace those removed frames with fresh foundation?...or should I remove a top super or two in hopes they'll force the Queen down so I can remove this badly placed shallow or? 2)My girls(Buckfast)seem to be healthy and numerous but I wouldn't like to loose them. The last few days have been sunny but STILL cool(about 58)BUT they seem to be working on a flow(there are blossoms EVERYWHERE hereabouts). Does the fact that I saw SOME brood bode well for their continuing stability? 3)Its been an unusually cool spring here and I've been hesitant to disturb them for inspection. Should I continue this cautious approach or do I NEED to find out if I have brood in the deeps? 4)I've purchased a pollen trap but there are no directions and the fellow I purchased it from couldn't remember how to install it. My concern is that, no matter how I place it, it is going to be somewhat open at the back(to the north)which doesn't seem right to me. 5)I'd like to have the hive inspected by someone who knows what they're doing(Whatcom County, WA.) and would appreciate it if someone can supply an e-mail address for the powers that be.<g>" I think that it would be very important for you to be sure whether you have queen cells or not. The developing brood opened between the shallow and deep chamber is very likely drone brood. This is a common placement for such brood, and I always inspect these opened cells for varroa - it is easy to see the mites here and you don't need any specialized equipment or procedure. Now, queen cells differ from even the largest drone cells in that they are vertical, not horizontal, and stand out very obviously from the rest of the comb. I didn't read that you mentioned the orientation of the large cells. If they are queen cells, you need to immediately go through the entire hive, not missing a frame, to find every such cell. Then you have a decision to make - whether to split the hive into two or more splits (my recommendation) each with a frame containing one or two queen cells, or to cut every one of them out to delay the inevitable swarming for a while so that you can give room to the hive until your new queen arrives. Then you can split the hive and provide the queenless half with the new queen and most of the sealed brood. The part with the original queen will likely not swarm after that if you give them plenty of room. So much for the unsolicited advice. Now as to your questions: 1) If the queen is in the shallow super, and you want to use that one for honey storage, you need to find the queen if she's in the super, pick her off and put her back downstairs, replace the excluder and put the emerging brood on top. If there is drone brood, you need to put an entrance above the excluder for the drones to get out. Otherwise they will try to get through the excluder, get stuck and die. 2) Yes, if you saw brood in the third chamber, you have a healthy family of bees coming along. My only concern, as mentioned above, is that your hive might be on the road to swarming. 3) It is absolutely necessary to do a spring inspection of the brood, again for the reasons mentioned above as well as to check for healthy brood, good brood patterns, etc. Any time the temperature gets into the 50's or above you can do this. Be careful not to expose sealed brood to chilly air for more that a half minute or so, but when put back in the chamber the bees will cover and protect it. 4) Although it is inconvenient (for you) to have bees entering the hive at different places, this doesn't bother the bees a bit. Hope this helps. Good luck. Ted Fischer