# 1st Season Beek...Many questions!



## Harts72 (Aug 31, 2012)

Hello Everyone! My name is Scott and I'm brand new to the beekeeping hobby.

I started my hive in April and things started off good enough---the queen was 
accepted and the brood comb was normal in appearance. So, I did my once
every so often check for about the first month and then thought that I should
probably leave them alone to do their thing. I fed 1:1 simple syrup throughout
the summer as needed for dearth; the month of July here in central Wisconsin
was without rain and the local corn crops perished. Fast-forward to about a week ago.

I open up my hive and found numerous supersedure cells and numerous emergency cells, too!
I was surprised as the numbers of bees had been increasing all summer and the strength of
the colony was looking good. I also found that most of the hive was in the super and partially
in the upper deep. The lower deep was basically empty of honey, pollen or brood. I inspected the brood comb located in the super and found numerous larvae at about day 7-8. 
So, I suppose that a new daughter queen has taken over the hive. I couldn't for the life of me
find eggs, though, so that was a bit concerning to me. 

Here are some questions:

1) Why would there be supersedure cells, that have hatched, as well as numerous emergency 
cells that are brand new? I know that there has been some new brood, but does this mean that
the hive is not convinced by her strength or lack of pheromones? What is the usual biology when
the queen mother dies or is superseded?

2) Should I hunker down in the 'watch and wait' mode or do I need to go into 'damage control' mode
and immediately order a new mated queen? I still haven't been able to prove to myself that there are
eggs on any of the frames and I fear it's in a tenuous situation. 

3) The brand new brood is located on the outer edge of the super--- exactly where one would NOT expect there to be a brood?! Should I start moving frames around? I'm getting a bit concerned as the winter is right around the corner and I want to have a good winter cluster. 

Thank you very much everyone and I hope it's been a good season for you all!

Scott


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome Scott! If visible brood is "located on the outer edge of the super" ther are almost assuredly eggs in the middle. How do you differentiate supercedure and emergency cells? queen cells in the middle of the frame are supercedure, unless you crushed the queen creating an emergency. Queen cells on the perimeter are swarm cells. Weak queen pheromone is the greatest cause of queen cells of any type. 
Queen biology - queen emerges, learns to fly, mates, starts laying, all in about a month.


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## Harts72 (Aug 31, 2012)

Hello and thank you very much for your response and knowledge! I've taken a bunch of pictures of my frames and wondering if you wouldn't mind taking a look at them? Thanks again. Scott


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