What happens in a hive during inefficient supercedure?

During inefficient supercedure, the process of replacing an old or failing queen is not carried out effectively, which typically results in a delay in finding or establishing a new queen. This can leave the colony queenless for a significant period of time. A queenless state can lead to disruptions in the hive, as the absence of a queen means there is no active egg-laying, causing the colony to face challenges in maintaining its population and overall health.

The old queen might not produce more eggs during this transition, as her productivity could be declining, and the overall dynamics of the colony can change without a proper transition to a new queen. If the colony does swarm, it would generally be due to other factors like overcrowding or genetics, rather than as a direct result of inefficient supercedure itself. Lastly, while sometimes new queens can be eliminated, it does not occur immediately in every case; rather, the inefficiency stems from the lack of a timely and effective replacement of the queen. Thus, the situation of being queenless for a period is the most accurate and significant outcome of inefficient supercedure.