Hello,

Having just had a nucleus of bees installed in my first national hive nearly 2 weeks ago, I was surprised and alarmed to see about 5 longish but unsealed swarm cells all along the bottom of one of the original nuc frames at my second inspection today. I opened two with my hive tool to find a load of white gunk, which I first took to be a squashed larvae, but after a bit of research I now believe it to have been royal jelly, probably with a small larvae that I didn't notice.

My queen is still present, that's for sure, and I saw some larvae in worker cells. Thankfully she's been clipped and so she can't swarm, but still not sure what to do with these queen cells. Also, why would they swarm? The foundation I gave them is being drawn out nicely on the two frames either side of the nuc frames. The nuc frames are also getting extra comb built on the base, so whether there's just not enough room for brood and that's why they're wanting to swarm - I don't know. New stores have been capped above the brood that was already there - probably just from the sugar syrup I've been feeding them.

Would be grateful for advice!

Thanks