21/07/2025
A supercedure cell is a type of queen cell, but not all queen cells are supercedure cells.
Here’s a breakdown:
🐝 What is a Queen Cell?
A queen cell is a special wax structure in a beehive where a new queen bee is raised. It’s larger and hangs vertically compared to regular brood cells.
🐝 Types of Queen Cells:
There are three main types:
1. Supercedure Cell
• Purpose: To replace an aging, failing, or damaged queen.
• Location: Usually found in the middle of the brood frame.
• Bees build this cell even if the queen is still present, because they sense she’s not performing well (e.g., poor egg laying, weak pheromone signal).
• Calm, non-panic process.
2. Swarm Cell
• Purpose: To produce a new queen before swarming, when the colony splits and part of it leaves with the old queen.
• Location: Often found along the bottom edges of brood frames.
• Triggered by overcrowding or seasonal cues.
• Multiple swarm cells are common.
3. Emergency Cell
• Purpose: To raise a queen after the current queen is lost suddenly (e.g., beekeeper accidentally killed her).
• Location: Worker cells that are quickly converted into queen cells.
• Rough and rushed appearance.
🔑 In Summary:
A supercedure cell is a queen cell, specifically made to replace a current queen who is failing but still present. All supercedure cells are queen cells, but not all queen cells are supercedure cells.
Let me know if you want help identifying them in your own hive.
