Had a really good example tonight of the value of clipping in extending the time / number of inspections you get to spot swarm cells before they are off.
Had a colony in May produce swarm queen cells and no sign of queen, so made some splits with cells that are due to emerge tomorrow. Decided to give a quick look through to check no emergency cells:
Saw eggs in one part and thought z”hold on!”..
There was my old clipped queen (her mark had nearly rubbed off). Still wandering about happily. Proof of observed fact that a clipped queen will often remain long after first queen cell is sealed - giving you potentially up to three weekly inspections to spot cells without even losing the old queen.
Some might think - ah yes, but what if they we’re actually superseding not swarming? Yes possibly, but in late May / early June I would prefer to act not hope. And I have seen it enough to times to know it’s not a one off.
Had a colony in May produce swarm queen cells and no sign of queen, so made some splits with cells that are due to emerge tomorrow. Decided to give a quick look through to check no emergency cells:
Saw eggs in one part and thought z”hold on!”..
There was my old clipped queen (her mark had nearly rubbed off). Still wandering about happily. Proof of observed fact that a clipped queen will often remain long after first queen cell is sealed - giving you potentially up to three weekly inspections to spot cells without even losing the old queen.
Some might think - ah yes, but what if they we’re actually superseding not swarming? Yes possibly, but in late May / early June I would prefer to act not hope. And I have seen it enough to times to know it’s not a one off.