Supersedure

Last weekened, I heard piping coming from Hive Two, and when I inspected, I found supersedure cells. I also found eggs, so I figured the girls had decided to replace their queen.

Today I checked the hives. There are supersedure cells and swarm cells, and two virgins emerged as I watched! Beautiful, golden girls. But I'm also worried--there are no eggs in the hive--I pulled it all apart and not an egg anywhere. So the old queen is dead, or not laying.

I have a decision to make. There are plenty of drones in the colony, and if that's the norm, then those virgins will be able to mate and with luck, all will be well going into winter. Or should I buy a mated queen right now, and requeen? Or--are they really planning to swarm in September? Should I split the hive give each a deep and a medium super of honey, and buy a queen for one?

Decisions, decisions. I'll consult with an experienced beekeeper on this one. I'd hate to lose this colony, given how strong they are.

The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture says that in Ithaca, 20% of swarms occur in September. I think that's what's going on here. And finding no eggs may well mean that the queen stopped laying in preparation for swarming. I'm leaning towards splitting the colony. Yep.