Hi, I'm a new beekeeper; I have 2 hives in Pittsford Vermont. I need some advice; I am unable to find either of my my marked queens, if they swarmed they did not take many bees with them, as the workforce is still present. There are some (now capped) queen cells in each hive. Unable to find larvae/egss. I last saw the marked queens about 2ish weeks ago. I'm surprised that both hives lost their queen. Any advice would help. Thank you, -Jim
Hello James,
Welcome to the world of beekeeping. I hope you're having fun!
What is you current hive setup. Do your bees have enough space? You mentioned that you're a new beekeeper, are these colonies that you started this year from a package or a nuc or are these overwintered colonies that you had last year?
If both of your marked queens are missing and you aren’t seeing eggs or larvae, it's possible your colonies have swarmed. Typically, bees swarm soon after queen cells become capped, which aligns with what you're describing.
Are you able to determine if the queen cells you saw were swarm cells or supersedure cells? This guide should help identify the type:
Supersedure Cells vs Swarm Cells
If they're supersedure cells, your bees are likely replacing their queen—though it's uncommon for both colonies to supersede simultaneously.
Since you now have capped queen cells, it's best not to disturb the hives for a while, allowing the new queens time to emerge, mate, and begin laying. Using a queen dial (such as this one), and assuming the cells were capped around your post date (5/26), the earliest date you'd see new eggs would be approximately 6/10, though it's safer to check between 6/11 and 6/17. Keep in mind this timing is approximate, since we’re uncertain exactly when the queen cells were capped. Queen cells will be capped for 7-9 days before emerging so this can impact the prior timeline some since we don't know exactly when they were capped.
Edit: Peter thanks for catching the typo with my dates.
Welcome to the world of beekeeping. I hope you're having fun!
What is you current hive setup. Do your bees have enough space? You mentioned that you're a new beekeeper, are these colonies that you started this year from a package or a nuc or are these overwintered colonies that you had last year?
If both of your marked queens are missing and you aren’t seeing eggs or larvae, it's possible your colonies have swarmed. Typically, bees swarm soon after queen cells become capped, which aligns with what you're describing.
Are you able to determine if the queen cells you saw were swarm cells or supersedure cells? This guide should help identify the type:
Supersedure Cells vs Swarm Cells
If they're supersedure cells, your bees are likely replacing their queen—though it's uncommon for both colonies to supersede simultaneously.
Since you now have capped queen cells, it's best not to disturb the hives for a while, allowing the new queens time to emerge, mate, and begin laying. Using a queen dial (such as this one), and assuming the cells were capped around your post date (5/26), the earliest date you'd see new eggs would be approximately 6/10, though it's safer to check between 6/11 and 6/17. Keep in mind this timing is approximate, since we’re uncertain exactly when the queen cells were capped. Queen cells will be capped for 7-9 days before emerging so this can impact the prior timeline some since we don't know exactly when they were capped.
Edit: Peter thanks for catching the typo with my dates.
I agree. To clarify I think the dates should be 6/11 etc. (not May). Also, did you have any supers on ? The main reason a queens swarms is lack of space to lay eggs. With all the nectar coming in the colony's could have been honey bound. Better to add a super or two as soon as the colony's start to build up in early May+/-. Also, depending when you started, do you have a lot of frames with drawn comb ? Good luck and welcome to the "journey" !!!! Peter
One more thing to add there is an 'Ask Me Anything #1 (About beekeeping)' session scheduled for tomorrow night(5/28/25) @ 7pm EST. You can sign up under the Calendar section of the website. That may be a good session to attend to ask questions or learn from others questions. We also record our zoom meetings so members can watch past sessions which also contain a lots of good info.
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