[Lancs Man]

Firstly, I am a new beekeeper…

I have had a swarm for about 6 weeks. 3 Weeks ago on my weekly inspection I noticed 11 Queen Cells, I took advice and culled 9 of the cells leaving 2. 1 Week later they swarmed…

I have few bees left 3/4 frames I haven’t spotted the new queen, but noticed yesterday 2 new queen cells, there is no other brood.

Questions

1) Do I leave the 2 queen cells or will they caste swarm?

2) Should I open one of the queen cells to proevent the caste?

3) I think my swarm from 2 weeks ago are still in the area… What can I do to lure them back, I have seen them in the sky, but couldn’t locate where they where coming from. I have looked in the nearby allotments but couldn’t find them… What can I do to lure them back?

Regards

Lancs Man

[ThePathKeymaster]

Hi Lancs Man, welcome to the beekeeping forum!

They are unlikely to swarm again after just swarming, so I would leave the two queen cells. Are you sure they are new and not the two you left originally? Are they fully formed? Hopefully there is queen larvae in them but I just hope the brood used wasnt to old to create a new queen!

If they both hatch they will probably fight to the death so shouldnt swarm. I think youd be taking a bigger risk taking away one cell to be honest.

I would have thought they are long gone after a 2 weeks, they should have found a suitable hive location by now. The only way to get them back is to offer them the best residence! Scroll down this page to find a bit about bait hives: http://honeybeekeeping.co……s-tips.php

Hope you get them back!

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