Queen cell

[Terry p]

Hi all
I have a queenless hive with queen cell noticed on 25/7/14 sealed it is now 5/8/14 still sealed.
I have a nuc should I merge this to hive or wait.?
Terry p

[fatshark]

She should be out by now. 7 days, give or take.
Whether to merge or not must depend upon what you want ... one colony to overwinter, the strength of both the hive and the nuc, the amount of sealed brood, the availability of queens etc.
It might be a bit late to give them a frame of eggs to raise another. The Q won't be out and mated until near the end of the month. However, with good weather it's possible to get them mated and overwintered much later than this (last year I had Q's mate around the 22nd of September and got them through the winter).
If they were my only bees I'd probably unite them to ensure a strong colony going into the winter.

[gavin]

Quite agree, but do check first that you're not looking at a queen cell that just appears not to have hatched. The queen cuts around the tip to let herself out and the flap sometimes gets stuck back on. If the cell is empty inside you may have a virgin out and about.

[fatshark]

Good point Gavin ... same applies if you have a worker head down in there as well.

[Terry p]

Good point Gavin ... same applies if you have a worker head down in there as well.

Many thanks gentlemen
I will check Queen cell to see if flap is open
Terry

[Jon]

It is actually quite common for the cell to be sealed up again. I keep reminding those in our queen rearing group to check before discarding sealed cells which are past the emergence date.

[Terry p]

It is actually quite common for the cell to be sealed up again. I keep reminding those in our queen rearing group to check before discarding sealed cells which are past the emergence date.

Checked cell had larva in but dead so merged with nuc.
terry