Last time, I wrote about swarming and how it poses a risk for beekeepers, and that preventing it requires removing queen cells before  new queens can develop. However, given that the work is done amidst tens of thousands of bees, completely eliminating all queen  cells is an almost superhuman task, even for the most skilled beekeepers. Most queen cells are easy to spot, but some are quietly built in the  less noticeable corners of the frames. These are the ones that tend to be overlooked. For the bees, removing every newly formed queen cell is a matter of survival, as beekeepers systematically destroy their carefully raised  future queens. 

This is purely my imagination, but I can’t help but feel that bees have evolved with a sort of intelligence encoded in their DNA, allowing  them to secretly nurture new queens without human detection. I’ve often come across queen cells that are cleverly concealed, almost  camouflaged, in ways that are hard to spot at a glance. It almost seems like a product of evolutionary adaptation, developed over generations  of being managed by humans. These queen cells are removed using a hive tool, an essential beekeeping tool. Often, I find them filled with a generous amount of  royal jelly (see image). I gather this jelly, and during the drive home, I pop the entire comb cell into my mouth. Royal jelly has a unique, intense  tartness and a stimulating taste and aroma.

Eating this royal jelly while driving prevents drowsiness, no matter how tired I am. Combining it with Manuka honey offers synergistic  health benefits, something I’ve personally experienced and confirmed through reports from long-term customers. Incidentally, with swarming, if you’re fortunate enough to catch a swarm at the right moment, it’s possible to add an extra colony.  There are various other methods to increase bee colonies, but the most common is to separate a group and create a queenless state,   thereby stimulating the development of a new queen.