Odd Queen Cells - What do you think?

[Lburou]

Someone in our Club found these (hatched) queen cells this week.   

[Perry]

I would say they are hatched queen cells alright. It looks as if someone just lay them on the comb for the picture. Is it the location that's troubling?

[iddee]

I think someone wants you to believe they were made and emerged horizontally.I do not believe they were. I think it is a set up.

[Jen]

Hoax 

[apisbees]

Only if the hive fell over on its side and the queen was killed and it sat there on its side for 10+ days. The problem with this theory is the cells are on drone brood so could not be floted out of those cells.
If you look at the top they so not look like natural formed cells that the bees make but more like cells from queen cups.
Did they come in as nuc? looks like introduces cells that once the queen was laying were left in the nuc and fell down and hung up on the drone brood that was sticking out further on the bottom.
Thats my final answer and I am sticking to it!
But great conversation photo bees build cells side ways and you have a picture to prove it.

[Lburou]

I don't disagree with any observations offered above. This hive was in swarm prep and missing a frame that should have been next to this frame, allowing the space.  the picture composition shows is a bad angle, leaving a lot of questions. If this is the original position on the comb, they appear to have been removed and then set back on the comb.

I should say however, that the report and picture witnessed by two members of our Club that are known to me and trustworthy.  One of them founded our Club and has kept bees for nearly 50 years. 

I have seen one instance of two horizontal queen cells in my own hive.  My horizontal queen cells shared a common wall, were perpendicular to the frame, anchored in one comb then crossing horizontally and terminating by contacting the adjacent comb, (cells were destroyed when the frames were separated during inspection).

[apisbees]

I have seen cells in which the larva was never floated out and the queen cells looked like super long drone cells. when I opened them up the queens were small I think the bees tried to make queens out of to old of larva. they were sloped down a little but not to the vertical position.

[Lburou]

I have seen cells in which the larva was never floated out and the queen cells looked like super long drone cells. when I opened them up the queens were small I think the bees tried to make queens out of to old of larva. they were sloped down a little but not to the vertical position.

Thanks Apis, was that an emergency queen attempt? 

When I saw the horizontal cells, it was during an attempt to requeen.   The Minnesota Hygienic bees were ferociously aggressive toward the new queen's cage.  Counting backwards, the new queen must have been loosed after four days.  The bees allowed two eggs to hatch and made normal sized queen cells from those eggs.  I couldn't find evidence of another egg from that queen and she was gone.  So, my horizontal cells were actually emergency cells -not a surprise if you consider old comb and how it might be easier to go horizontally. 

I wonder how many behaviors unknown to us are pent up in the genes of our honey bees?  I'm sure the future will reveal a lot of unexpected knowledge them. 

[apisbees]

With me it was in a hive that i used to stock an observation hive for the fair. Pulled the queen and 3 frames on Wednesday, The following Monday put the queen back into the hive. checked for queen cells and found 4, 2 were still open and the larva were well fed and floated out and the cells were hanging down the other 2 were capped, one was floated out and hanging down the other was more horizontal. Both the capped cells were small and by the timing and development of the larva inside, It was clear that these cells were started from larva at least 3 days old. I know there are some on the forum that do not like to cull queen cells but for me and in my experience, small cells are from either under fed or to old of larva.
Had I left the cells to mature and hatch. Small inferior queens would have emerged first, and most likely would have destroyed the the cells containing the bigger most likely better queens.

[Lburou]

Interesting insight Apis, thanks. 

[pistolpete]

there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that those cells were broken off somewhere else and placed there for the pic.  You can clearly see the tear lines and full cells underneath.  bees just don't build that way.