Laying Workers Successfully Solved

Below is a frame with 6 or more supercedure cells, from a hive over at Cherry Valley Farms. 

Its a mystery to me exactly what happened here, and how, but the basic history is that this was a very strong hive earlier this Spring which I neglected to inspect. It looked strong, and for some unknown reason, became queenless, without any opportunity to make a new queen, so it remained queenless, and then broodless, for a few weeks before I opened it. When I did, I found laying workers- multiple  eggs in cells, eggs helterskelter, eggs on the sides of cells. At this point, even with plenty of bees, they are doomed- and interventions are apparently unlikely to cure them. 

So, despite this, I took a new $35 queen and two frames of brood with eggs, and put them in the hive, and left for vacation. I didn't really have much hope, but needed to do something (this also being a hive untreated for Varroa, I didn't want to combine it either).

When I returned a week or so later, below is what I found. No queen (they apparently killed her), but also, no laying worker eggs. Instead, these 6 capped queen  supercedure cells.

So, apparently they raised at least 6 eggs as queens, and killed the new fancy queen.

(I don't get what happened to the other eggs- and brood. It seems like there would be capped brood here as well but there was none. Did they destroy it? That seems so strange.)

So I let the hive sit for a week- wondering if the cells were actually viable (and thinking- maybe they were old, but somehow not torn apart?)

But yesterday I went through the hive, and pulled out the frame, and found the following. All the cells were uncapped, and open. Which suggests that at least one queen we out and about. So I started looking.

I 

 And eventually , found here- way at the tip top of the hive, in what I thought was a full honey super. You can see here below- center of the picture, long and black. Apparently a Carniolan, I am guessing (I have to check my notes to see where I got the eggs). She's not laying yet- just wandering- but I will check in another week. I don't know if she has taken her mating flight(s) yet- but I am hoping to see some eggs this week. I might steal some brood as well- as these bees look good but are getting old. And I need to treat, but will wait so as to not get them riled up.

Here is a short video of her- fun to see how different looking she is from her new family..

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