Allow the colony to raise an emergency queen

If the queenless colony still contains eggs or larvae younger than 3 days old, the workers can raise their own emergency queen without any beekeeper intervention. Confirm young brood is present, then leave the hive undisturbed for at least 4 weeks to allow queen cell construction, emergence, mating flights, and the start of egg-laying.

Why It Works

Worker bees can convert any fertilized larva under 3 days old into a queen by feeding it exclusively royal jelly. The new queen emerges roughly 16 days after the egg was laid, then takes 1-2 weeks to complete mating flights and begin laying. This preserves the colony's own genetics and costs nothing.

Tips

• Cull all but 2-3 of the best-positioned queen cells to encourage a stronger, well-fed queen
• Do not open the hive during the queen development period (days 1-16) as vibration can damage developing queens in their cells
• Check for fresh eggs 4 weeks after queen cells were first observed to confirm successful mating
• If no eggs appear after 5 weeks, the emergency queen likely failed -- introduce a purchased queen as a backup