gah! a queen cell - peanut exists! what should I do???

[LazyBkpr]

LOL  yes, the answer is to do nothing and let the bees sort it out in either situation. If its a queen emulating drone or a drone wishing he were a queen, the bees will sort the situation out to their best advantage in this case.

[Jen]

Done! Nice thread 

[CpnObvious]

Should I worry about making a nuc box as a swarm trap just in case?

To help set a time-line... This is the same spot 7 days ago.  As you can see there's no queen cup... so your thoughts of a messed-up drone cell is probably supported.  What are your thoughts as far as a time-frame... birth between the end of this week, beginning of next?

[LazyBkpr]

 Three days as an egg. 6 days left before it is capped.  Capped queen cell by day 9. It is my opinion that if they were going to swarm they would make more than one, and they would likely have swarmed within a day or so before or after it was capped. But you will get no argument from me about setting out a swarm box. If they dont swarm you have it ready to set out in the spring! If its a drone you only feel foolish for having worried and I learned that drone cells can look like queen cells!   

[Perry]

Sooo, is there a definitive answer here?

Yes!  You're all going on a roadtrip to North-Central Massachusetts!

That's a coincidence. Earlier today I looked up on the map where you are to see if that was too far for a road trip some day. I have long dreamed of doing one (never been) along the eastern part of the USA, stopping along the way to say Hi to some of you.
It doesn't hurt that you are not far away from Maxant either! 

Edit: Unless the queen wandered over to this section of the frame, laid a viable egg, and then wandered away, I still maintain it's a dud. If it were a true supercedure cell, the queen would hatch out, but there should be all kinds of capped worker brood cells all around this one, and there isn't.