# Snelgrove split and queen piping



## bee keeper chef (Nov 1, 2015)

1. Did bottom portion end up with two queens ?
Maybe if you missed a cell but if that happened the virgin won the fight
2. Laying queen smells QCs up above and making all the noise ?
Probably a virgin looking for another cell to destroy
3. Should I leave both portions alone and check back a week or so later ?[/QUOTE said:


> Check back in about 2 weeks give them time to mate and start laying


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## DaisyNJ (Aug 3, 2015)

Update: Its been about 4 days now and still the piping continues in the lower queen right portion. If they were going to off some queens, shouldn't they have taken care of business by now ? 

Last year I had similar episode and upon inspection, it looked like they were holding queens within cells in preparation for after swarms.


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## DaisyNJ (Aug 3, 2015)

The piping was bothering me, so went in for full inspection today. I could not find any queens cells (neither open nor closed ones). I didnt find my marked queen. Then I heard that piping on one of the frames. There is an unmarked queen. She looked mated more than virgin. I put her into cage thinking to mark her late. Continue inspection. Did not find my marked queen or any other cells. Getting ready to mark the caught queen and there she flies way :-(. Looked like she flew around and into the entrance. Closed hive back up. 

Hour later, I stop by to check and there is that dreaded sound again. Piping and quacking. Right in the box I checked. 

Two hours later, huge cloud of bees exiting the hive. Guessed it.. swarming. Spent next 3 hours catching that swarm and putting it into a Nuc box. Didnt find the queen as it was getting late. I will check on them Monday and see if I can find the queen. Hope its my marked queen. 

I went from 3 overwintered single deeps to 3 hives, 2 single deeps, and 1 swarm Nuc, still NO DRAWN SUPERS or Single Drop of Honey stored in super :-(. 

Lesson learned (again) - Piping and quacking for more than couple of days ? Imminent swarming.


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