# Why do I find dead larvae in capped queen cells



## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

They probably ran out of royal jelly and starved.


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

How do you know they didn't get stung, it's impossible to see where it would have been pierced.
The hole is microscopic. I'd guess death by First hatched Queen.
once they turn black and shrink you can't say how old they were, they are a mass of goo.
not all queen cell are the same age, a queen will pierce a larvae too, at least form my empirical experience.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

If you're handing frames as they develop you can dislodge them and they'll still grow to the "cap me" stage, but will starve as they've been bumped off the pool of jelly. Sometimes evidenced as really long cells.


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