Lesson 37: Queen Cells
Reading queen cells: what the colony is planning, and what to do about it
Finding queen cells on a frame is one of the most important things you'll see in an inspection. Queen cells tell you what the colony is about to do: swarm, replace its queen, or recover from losing her. Reading them correctly tells you whether to act.
Queen cups vs. queen cells
Queen cups are small, empty, cup-shaped wax bases that hang downward, often along the bottom edge of frames. Colonies build them all the time. An empty cup is not by itself a sign of swarming.
A cup becomes a queen cell when the queen lays an egg in it and workers start feeding the larva royal jelly and extending the cell downward. A growing queen cell is a large, elongated cell hanging vertically, much bigger than any worker or drone cell. The workers cap it at about 8 to 9 days after the egg was laid, and the new queen emerges at about 16 days (lesson 7).
How it looks:
A queen cup: an empty cup-shaped base. Colonies build these all the time.
An open (uncapped) queen cell: a larva floating in royal jelly.
Capped queen cells: long, hanging, and much bigger than worker cells.
The three kinds
| Kind | Why | Where on the frame | How many |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swarm cells | The colony is crowded and preparing to swarm (lesson 12) | Usually along the bottom and outer edges of frames | Often many |
| Supersedure cells | The workers are replacing a failing queen (lesson 13) | Usually on the face of the comb, toward the middle, around the edge of the brood area | Usually few |
| Emergency cells | The queen died or disappeared suddenly (lesson 13) | Toward the middle of the comb, built out from ordinary worker cells | Can be several |
Location is a useful clue, not a rule. There are always exceptions, and a queen can be raised anywhere on a frame. Read the whole colony:
- Is there still a laying queen (eggs, young larvae)? Many cells along the bottom edges of a crowded, queenright colony in spring = swarm preparations.
- Is the brood spotty or the queen laying poorly, with a few cells on the comb face? = supersedure.
- No eggs, no queen, maybe an agitated, loudly roaring colony, and cells built out of worker cells in the brood area? = emergency (the colony is queenless; lesson 43).
How it looks:
An emergency queen cell, built out from a worker cell in the middle of the comb.
Emergency cells on a comb after the colony lost its queen.
What each one means for you
Swarm cells: - If the cells are open (uncapped), you still have a little time. Relieve the crowding right away: add space, or make a split (lessons 48 and 78). - Once swarm cells are capped, it's very hard to stop the swarm. Many beekeepers then make a split using the queen cells, so the "swarm" ends up in a box they own rather than a tree. - Simply cutting out swarm cells rarely works on its own. Missing even one lets the colony swarm, and new cells can be built within a week. It only works as part of a regular, thorough program (lesson 48).
Supersedure cells: - The bees think the queen is failing. It's often best to let them replace her. Expect a brood break of two to three weeks while the new queen emerges and mates. - If you'd rather not wait, requeen with a mated queen (lessons 45–46).
Emergency cells: - Good news: the colony can make a new queen. Leave the cells to develop, or introduce a mated queen to save time (lesson 46). - If the colony can't make a queen (no young larvae left) and doesn't get one, it will fail (lesson 43).
Signs a new queen has emerged
- A queen cell with a neat, round opening at the bottom (a lid-like flap, or cleanly chewed) means a queen emerged from it.
- A queen cell torn open from the side usually means another queen or the workers destroyed it before she emerged.
- If you see several virgin queens emerging at once, the colony is about to swarm.
What to remember
- Empty queen cups are normal. A queen cell has a larva in royal jelly and grows long and hanging.
- Swarm cells: many, along the bottom/edges, in a crowded, queenright colony. Capped = hard to stop, so act early.
- Supersedure cells: few, mid-comb; often let the bees replace her.
- Emergency cells: mid-comb from worker cells; the colony has lost its queen.
- Read the whole colony, not just the cell's position.
Quick check
- Are empty queen cups a sign a colony is about to swarm?
- Where are swarm cells usually found? Supersedure and emergency cells?
- You find a capped queen cell with a neat round hole at the bottom. What does it mean?
Show answers
1. No, colonies build them all the time; a cup only matters once there's an egg or larva in it. 2. Swarm cells: usually along the bottom and outer edges; supersedure and emergency cells: usually toward the middle of the comb. 3. A queen has emerged from it.
Adapted from: UF/IFAS Extension, Swarm Control for Managed Beehives (ENY-160/IN970, 2022); Purdue Extension, Advanced Beekeeping (4-H-1059-W); UGA Bee Program, Honey Bee Disorders: Non-infectious Diseases and Pests; Penn State Extension, An Introduction to Queen Honey Bee Development (Anton & Grozinger, updated 2025); University of Arkansas, Complete Beekeeping Short Course, Part 4.
Photos: queen cup, Waugsberg, CC BY-SA 3.0 · open queen cell, Maja Dumat, CC BY 2.0 · three queen cells, Migco, public domain · emergency queen cell, Conall, CC BY 2.0 · emergency cells, Verum, CC BY-SA 3.0 (all via Wikimedia Commons).
Adapted from university Extension sources. Experienced Georgia beekeepers are reviewing these lessons. See something that doesn't match your experience? Tell us.