Can someone explain after-swarms to me? It seems to be basic bee knowledge (I knew this before I ever kept a bee) that the old queen leaves and the new queen destroys the other cells or fights any other emerging queen to the death! Sola Una Regina! So do we even know the mechanisms for after-swarms? Why didn't the queen/bees destroy the other cells? Why would a hive cast off another two or three swarms? What's going on in there?
Kate - since 2013, 4 colonies, 3 8-frame Langs, 1 TBH, mostly TF, zone 8b