HELP 2 weeks ago I had 2 hives...now 5 and one that might swarm,what to do?

[windfall]

I began beekeeping this spring with 2, 8 frame overwintered nucs.

6/21 I had two hives each with about 16 drawn frames of mixed brood and stores.  That day I found one of them loaded with q-cells. I pulled the queen and 5 frames into another box, and removed all but 2 of the capped cells.

6/29 The hive I split from swarmed. They moved into a empty ten frame 2 days later where they have been settled and taking about a quart of 2:1 every 2 days. On the same day I could hear piping in the original parent hive.

7/4 another swarm (we think from the same hive). This swarm was much smaller. we shook it into a 8 frame deep. So far they have stayed put but don't seem to be taking any significant amount of syrup.

So now from that original hive I have 4 separate groups: A 5 frame Nuc with mated laying queen, 2 swarms (assume virgin queens), original hive with virgin queen or possibly queenless.

The other hive was stronger and appeared to be "behaving" itself. It is in a long hive with room for 33deeps, and has been bearding each afternoon since the fourth, back to normal by morning. 2 days ago I took a quick look in it for fear it might be getting ready to swarm also. I found a few (2) queen cups that were longer (maybe 1/2") than the normal little spheres they keep. I could not see any larva in them but think the bottom was filled with royal jelly (pretty hard to tell). The hive seemed to be packed with bees. There were still 3 empty frames in the rear as well as several half drawn frames in the front, and a few half drawn among the middle.

I plan to go through all the hives tomorrow and see where they are at. Things are complicated slightly because we are going out of town on Tuesday morning for 10 days, so I feel If action needs be taken I need to be ready to do it over the weekend.

To be honest I am feeling a bit overwhelmed...and running out of equipment/space fast. My thought at present is as follows:

1)Take a frame of eggs/brood from the strong long hive (possibly with a queen cell) and place it in the hive that I removed the queen from on the 21st...Unless I see a queen in it already.

2)If I find more q-cells on a full inspection of the long hive, attempt to find the queen and remove her and 4 frames. I can isolate the back of the long hive as a nuc.
If I don't see further evidence of cells in that hive add a few empties into the brood nest. I have been doing this every few weeks all along to get them to draw foundationless. I will also add a few more empty frames into the front and back of the hive. I did build it so I can add a super as an option as well and give them space above any 1/3/

3) leave the swarms alone and see if their queens can mate and get to work while I am gone. Then make decision about combining them together or with another hive
4)leave the nuc I made from the hive before it swarmed alone as an intact reserve.

I am considering other options. Like combining the two swarms, or purchasing a queen from a local breeder for the hive that swarmed on 6/26, or.....well the options seem quite numerous at this point!
I would appreciate feed back on my plan. Suggestions for alternatives, or any other general advice. I am just getting too wound up about this and looking for a bit of outside perspective.
MAny thanks

[Francus]

As a newbie I don't have a lot of advice on how to fix the issue other than adding more supers when the ones already on have been 60% drawn. ANd if a flow is on, stop feeding them.

Barring that, in your current situation you might be able to sell a couple of them and recoup some of your costs.

[windfall]

I realized I should probably have included in my plea for help an idea of what my own goals are:
for this year I couldn't give a darn about honey. I want to learn, and go into the winter as best prepared as possible to be able to keep learning from the bees next spring without having to start over completely. Part of me loves the sudden increase in hive numbers, so long as they are sustainable hives.

[rbinhood]

It is still early enough in the year that your hives should build up enough to make it through the winter just fine.  Use your best judgement and try what you think is best.  It sounds like you have the basic knowledge of what bee keeping is about.  Lessions learned through doing are the ones you will remember, if it works you will remember it for a long time, it it fails you will remember that even longer.  Always remember that bees are going to do what they want too do no matter what.  I know this sound crude, rude, and not sound advice but, I am 72 years old and some of the most valuable lessions I have learned over the years about bees were the ones where I followed my gut feelings, most worked and some were failures but I remember them all.  That is until my Alzheimer's kicks in and I look down and see I don't have on any paints and I am standing in the check out line at the market!

[windfall]

Francus, I am only feeding the swarms...and may stop that shortly.
Rbinhood, I don't think your advice is hard,rude or crude. It is usualy the way I work through most things.

I found some time to dig through the hives this afternoon, and it was helpful but of course also created new questions.

The primary swarm: saw the queen, they had drawn about a frame and a half. most looks like it is filled with sugar syrup, but there were some cells with eggs so Iguess she mated sucesfully!

parent hive to the swarms: Didn't see a queen, but I stopped just a few frames in. I saw at least 3 Q-cells that had been opened from the bottom and 2 torn from the side. I only meant to leave 2 so either i missed some or they made some more after I was in there. Either way I am hopeful now that they are not queenless and she just needs time to mate and get busy. The hive was LOADED with drones. I had been expecting this as there was alot of capped drone brood last time I was in it. It was an expected by product of making the shift to foundationless and I think just got exaggerated when all the girls left in the swarms.

The Nuc: is still queen right with a ton of eggs.

After swarm: didn't go in there yet

the long hive: found at least 3-4 capped Q-cells, and a bunch more uncapped with larva (the bees really like putting these on the partially drawn foundationless frames...almost exclusively). One frame was particularly covered and I could even hear them piping in the cells when I pulled it out. That was a surprise as I am pretty sure they were capped within the last 3 days?
So I spent an hour and found the queen. Pulled her and 2 frames brood/eggs, 2 frames stores, and put them in the far end of the hive isolated with tight follower boards. I also added a "shake" of bees from a brood frame.

So now I have 6 hives! I am thinking seriously of going back in tomorrow and pulling out another nuc with a Q cell or 2 and moving that 2 miles away to a friends yard, and then just letting nature take it's course. We won't be here to catch a swarm when/if it issues sometime next week as seems likely. I  may also look at the little swarm we caught and see if I can boost it with resources from the long hive. Like I aid before, it seems pretty packed.
I was wondering if when I split the first hive a few weeks ago, a I just made things more crowded by removing frames and then letting nearly all the field bees to go back to the parent hive. That is why I was thinking of moving a split away this time?

[rbinhood]

Windfall, try moving your strong hive to the location of one of the weaker hives and the strong hive to it's location this will increase the population of the weaker hive.  Next make you some small queen cages out of #8 hardware cloth  and press it into the wax placed over the queen cells that way when they hatch the other queen can't kill them.  I have had this work for several days until I could get back to the hives, then you have extra queen to use to make splits. 

Take and place a bait hive with a few frames of honey and drawn comb in about 10 or 15 feet high in a tree or on top of a post or something out in front of the hive you think is going to swarn.....somethimes they will go to it.

Just the rambling of and old fart, don't know if that will help you or not.