Unusually fresh brood
Today’s inspection: a small colony, created in July 2020 with a queen that emerged in June 2020 and is marked, appears to be somewhat behind compared to its neighboring colonies (only 3 frames covered). On 2 frames, there are palm-sized, fairly compact patches of worker brood, accompanied by a few scattered drone cells at the periphery. A closer inspection reveals unusually fresh egg-laying. What do you think?
See answer
Suggested answer:
Normally, a queen with some experience lays only one egg per cell. This is not always the case with newly emerged young queens, which may lay several eggs per cell for a few days, until their queen-specific laying behavior becomes properly established. The egg-laying observed here (compact worker brood combined with several eggs per cell) can be explained by the presence of a second, very recently emerged queen that has just started laying and lacks experience. A follow-up inspection in a few days is recommended for confirmation.
To learn more:
► Brood volume
► Varroa: brood interruption
