On April 29, I made a split and a nuc. The full hive split had about half a dozen swarm cells, and the nuc had two frames loaded with eggs and brood. The bees seem to be doing great; bringing in nectar and pollen, building comb, etc. They are very docile and do not seem queenless. But I cannot find a queen or eggs or new brood in either one! What are the chances of both of them failing to produce a queen under those circumstances? Should I put in another frame of eggs and brood, or should I wait a few more days in case the queens are out on mating flights. We have had quite a bit of cool rainy weather the past week. :?
If it was me I would add the frame of eggs and brood.
one frame with eggs in each if you can spare it. then check in a couple of days to see if they are building queen cells.
chances are, you have a queen in at least one of them. you are only 3 weeks out and a new queen may not be laying yet especially if the weather has been bad.
Thank you for the input! I spent quite a bit of time going through the nuc and split today. I found no eggs or queen in the nuc, so I found a frame with eggs and brood and put it in there. I DID find the queen in the full hive split!! :-D I even saw her laying eggs! :-D :-D I also found a frame with some eggs in it, so she must have just started laying in the last day or two. The hive I took the eggs and brood out of for the nuc had a ton of brood in various stages, but few eggs. I didn't see any queen cells either, so I think I was successful in preventing that hive from swarming.
Quote from: gardeningfireman on May 20, 2010, 12:19:25 PM
I think I was successful in preventing that hive from swarming.
For Now.....