Queen or No Queen?

[kiwi bee]

Hi, I'm new to this site and to beekeeping (have posted in the introduction area) and have question regarding one of my hives.

I have two hives - one nucleus given to me by a friend mid Nov  with queen (supposedly but we didn't see her) and plenty of bees and brood that we transferred to a 10 frame brood box.

The other is a very small swarm but definitely with a queen as I have seen eggs and brood on a couple of frames.

I checked the nucleus hive end Nov to find 2 capped queen cells.  Left them to it as thought they knew more than me. Checked every 2 weeks since.  Saw queen cell  cap out at hive entrance so presumed she had hatched.  Now, beg January have yet to see any eggs or brood (weather has been a bit iffy).  Last Friday I pinched a frame of brood (with lavae and capped cells) from the swarm and popped it in the nucleus just to see what they would do.  Three days later 2 queen cells half built.  Checked today a 5 days later to find no queen cells whatsoever.

The hive has masses of bees but  is making a "humming" sound that I haven't heard before.  Is this the "no queen" hum?  Is there a queen in there who isn't laying yet given the fact that they have made queen cells and then removed them?   Was the brood I gave them from the swarm too old?  I can't really take any more brood from the swarm as it is still small (or does this not matter?). 

Do I leave them alone for a few more weeks then recheck and perhaps give them a frame of brood from the swarm when it is bigger or think about uniting the two hives together - ? now.   If uniting is the way to go how is this done when the hive with a queen is a lot smaller and weaker than the hive with ? no queen?

Any advice very much appreciated.

Regards, Kiwi Bee.

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#queenlessbees

[Brian D. Bray]

Below your name you will see a location.  Please be advised that being Hopelessly Lost may be the way we feeling about our beekeeping knowledge but it makes it difficult to give specific answers to your questions.  Geography and weather conditions make such a difference that it is muy importante when advise is requested to know the specifc area so specifc advise can be given.  

We have people on this forum from Austria to New Zealand, and from near the Artic Circle (Alaska & Finland) to the Jungles (South America, Afirica, and South East Asia [Philipines]) so location is critical.

I'm not even going to begin to give you an answer until I know what country you're in.  Your post sound like you may have southern hemisphere climates.  

[kiwi bee]

Thanks for the quick responses - yes, might help if I told you our position in the world -  we're in New Zealand - middle of summer, mild temps from 20-30 degrees C, plenty of nectar, pollen about.

Kiwi Bee
Canterbury
South Island
New Zealand

[Kirk-o]

It looks to me like your hive is queenless go to Michael Bush's link you will be glad you did
kirko