Queenless and not sure what to do.

[VTnewbee]

My bees swarmed approximately 2 weeks ago and I was hoping the remaining colony would make a new queen.  My husband and I did an inspection on Monday and again this afternoon, hoping to find a queen or eggs and we still haven't seen any.  The one hopeful thing is that we did find maybe 10 or so open queen cells and maybe a couple unopened ones, but that was it.  There's still a nice population of bees there and tons of honey and pollen and some capped brood, but no sign of a laying queen at the moment.  What do you suggest I do?  Continue being patient in hopes that some of those open queen cells produced a soon to be viable queen, or order a queen right away?  Is it too late to requeen in Vermont?  The one place I planned on getting a queen from if I ever needed to requeen is out for the year, so if I do need to order one, I'd love to hear any suggestions on where to get one.  Thanks everyone!

[annette]

It could take up to 28 days (per Michael Bush) until you see any eggs.  This actually happened to me and it did take that long before I saw anything.

[VTnewbee]

Thank you Annette.  You're always so great about answering my questions.  Maybe someday you'll ask something I'll be able to answer, but it's not likely!  :roll:   So it's been maybe 14 or 15 days since I think the swarm occurred so based on the 28 day figure, there's definitely still hope.  Next question, if I get to the full 28 days and we're still queenless, that would make it mid-September here in Vermont.  Would that then make it too late to requeen?  When is "too late to requeen"?

[Michael Bush]

A frame of eggs and open brood never hurts, but as Annette says it may take 28 days to get a laying queen.