How to Divide a Colony When There is a Queen Cell but the Queen Cannot Be Found?

Swarming is the main way for bees to expand their population, and it can be natural or artificial. Natural swarming involves capturing the swarm after the colony has split, while artificial swarming involves manually splitting the colony before it naturally swarms. Let's take a look at how to divide a colony when there is a queen cell but the queen cannot be found.

1. Swarming Conditions
Artificial swarming requires both internal and external conditions. Internally, the colony must be strong and have mature queen cells, with the strength of the colony being the most critical factor. Weak colonies should not be artificially swarmed, as their small size will result in slow development. Externally, the temperature should be suitable and there should be abundant nectar sources. Conditions such as low temperatures, large temperature fluctuations, continuous rainy days, or lack of nectar sources are not suitable for artificial swarming.

2. Swarming Operation
Artificial swarming involves using the old queen and mature queen cells to split the colony into two. The specific steps are as follows: retain only one high-quality queen cell, then form a new colony with the queen cell, new worker bees, and capped brood combs. When removing the combs, carefully inspect to ensure the queen is not on the combs. The original hive will keep the old queen, old worker bees, and larval combs. After swarming, some old worker bees will return to the original hive, but the new worker bees that have not yet oriented to the hive will stay in the new colony.

3. Colony Management
(1)Supplemental Feeding: After artificial swarming, it is important to consistently provide supplemental feeding to the colonies. The main goal is to help the colonies quickly recover the population lost due to swarming. Supplemental feeding stimulates the queen to lay eggs rapidly and encourages worker bees to actively nurse the larvae.
(2)Balancing Colony Strength: After artificial swarming, pay attention to balancing the strength of the two colonies. The new colony, with the old queen, will usually stabilize quickly. The original colony will need to wait for the new queen to mate with drones before she can start laying eggs. At this time, you can transfer brood combs to balance the strength of the colonies.
(3)Preventing Diseases: Strictly control and prevent diseases and pests after artificial swarming. The ability of a colony to resist diseases and pests is positively correlated with its strength. After artificial swarming, both colonies are relatively weak, making them more susceptible to disease outbreaks, which could lead to swarming failure.