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ocba - [ocba] Multiple eggs per cell: laying workers vs overzealous newbie queen

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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: Daniel Kenan <dan.kenan AT gmail.com>
  • To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [ocba] Multiple eggs per cell: laying workers vs overzealous newbie queen
  • Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 19:34:54 -0400

Today is about 2 weeks since installing 2 packages. Hive 1 looks as expected, with lots of wax being drawn out and 1 egg per cell and lots of uncapped brood. Hive 2 shows less activity, less wax being drawn, and has lots of cells with multiple eggs per cell. I assume that I have laying workers, but it seems unlikely that they could have arisen so quickly. There was a viable queen in the original package, and she was released successfully judging by the candy being chewed out. The one week check failed to locate the queen and no eggs noted in any cells. The two week check today shows lots of uncapped brood and multiple eggs per cell. I read that sometimes new queens are overzealous and can lay multiple eggs per cell. How can I reliably identify laying workers in this situation? Do I have to wait until I see drone brood? I'd rather replace the queen as quickly as possible if there is a problem.

Thanks, Dan



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