Emergency queen cells

The first step when emergency queen cells are observed is to confirm colony queenlessness. This involves a thorough hive inspection to verify the absence of the queen and, crucially, the absence of eggs and young larvae. The presence of eggs or young larvae indicates that the queen was recently present, and emergency cells may be due to a temporary queen absence or other factors. True queenlessness, confirmed by the lack of eggs and young larvae along with emergency cells, signals that the colony is actively attempting to raise a new queen due to queen loss. Accurate queenlessness confirmation is essential before deciding on intervention strategies.

If queenlessness is confirmed and hive inspection reveals no eggs or young larvae suitable for emergency queen rearing, introducing a mated queen is the recommended course of action. This is crucial to prevent the colony from becoming hopelessly queenless, which can lead to colony decline and eventual collapse. A mated queen can be introduced using a queen cage, following proper introduction procedures to ensure successful queen acceptance by the colony. Introducing a mated queen provides a rapid solution to queenlessness and restores queenright status, especially when the colony lacks resources to raise its own queen.

If queenlessness is confirmed, but young larvae (less than 3 days old) are present in the hive, allowing the colony to raise an emergency queen is a viable option. In this scenario, the bees have the resources to rear a new queen from existing larvae. Beekeepers should monitor the colony's progress, checking for successful queen cell development, queen emergence, and subsequent queen mating and brood pattern establishment. Allowing emergency queen rearing is a natural approach to restoring queenright status, but it requires monitoring and may take longer than introducing a mated queen. If emergency queen rearing fails, beekeeper intervention with a mated queen introduction may become necessary.