This is a regular topic at this time of year when people call me - which is "My bees have swarmed - have you got a spare queen?" I have had a couple of these calls recently.
In most cases a new queen isn't required.
When a colony swarms the old queen leaves with around 1/2 the bees, leaving the colony with the ability to make a new queen - they won't swarm without a queen in the making so the purchase of a new queen is not needed at this point. If the beekeeper destroys all queencells, to mistakenly 'stop the swarm' there lies a significant problem! That's another matter.
So when will the new queen start to lay?
Assuming a colony swarms around the time the first queencell is sealed, this is the Prime Swarm, we have an 8 day wait until the first queen emerges. It's possible she will swarm out with 1/2 the remaining bees, leaving a younger sister to take over the colony. (It takes a couple of days for her to mature before she flies out with a swarm).
Queens will only mate in good weather and need 5 - 6 days to mature before they are ready for mating. So even in good weather, 2 weeks is the absolute minimum time from a swarm before a new queen is likely to be mated. Once mated it may be a few days before she starts to lay.
For this year - the caller I had the other day from the next village was worried that his colony was queenless as he had no eggs. I told him that I have around 15 virgin queens and I am waiting for good weather just like he is. For him and me, the NE wind is set to continue for the next week or so, so it will be too cold for queen mating. And as I explained, an introduced queen will be killed if there is a queen already in the hive so there's no point in introducing one.
If, upon inspecting the colony, there are polished cells where you would expect to see brood, there is a good chance that a queen is present. If the bees fill the 'laying area' with nectar, then there's unlikely to be a queen present.
My view is that after swarming, queencells should be cut down to one. (And an open queencell will reveal a larva in a pool of white sludge called Royal Jelly so you know it's there - so reduce down to one open queencell). Some suggest leaving two as 'an insurance policy.'
In most cases a new queen isn't required.
When a colony swarms the old queen leaves with around 1/2 the bees, leaving the colony with the ability to make a new queen - they won't swarm without a queen in the making so the purchase of a new queen is not needed at this point. If the beekeeper destroys all queencells, to mistakenly 'stop the swarm' there lies a significant problem! That's another matter.
So when will the new queen start to lay?
Assuming a colony swarms around the time the first queencell is sealed, this is the Prime Swarm, we have an 8 day wait until the first queen emerges. It's possible she will swarm out with 1/2 the remaining bees, leaving a younger sister to take over the colony. (It takes a couple of days for her to mature before she flies out with a swarm).
Queens will only mate in good weather and need 5 - 6 days to mature before they are ready for mating. So even in good weather, 2 weeks is the absolute minimum time from a swarm before a new queen is likely to be mated. Once mated it may be a few days before she starts to lay.
For this year - the caller I had the other day from the next village was worried that his colony was queenless as he had no eggs. I told him that I have around 15 virgin queens and I am waiting for good weather just like he is. For him and me, the NE wind is set to continue for the next week or so, so it will be too cold for queen mating. And as I explained, an introduced queen will be killed if there is a queen already in the hive so there's no point in introducing one.
If, upon inspecting the colony, there are polished cells where you would expect to see brood, there is a good chance that a queen is present. If the bees fill the 'laying area' with nectar, then there's unlikely to be a queen present.
My view is that after swarming, queencells should be cut down to one. (And an open queencell will reveal a larva in a pool of white sludge called Royal Jelly so you know it's there - so reduce down to one open queencell). Some suggest leaving two as 'an insurance policy.'
May your bees read the same books as you do.
