Two weak colonies, one unknown queen status

[BeeAttitude]

A week ago I cut a colony out of a house wall.  I saved as much brood as I could by wiring to empty frames and set them up with some good empty comb w/ a little honey and pollen, too.  I searched and searched for queen during the  "cut out" to no avail.  I don't know if I have her.  Furthermore, the brood wired into the frames is in such a fragile state I'm reluctant to make much effort to look for eggs, much less the queen.  

This is a weak hive, but bees are acting cohesively (like they have a queen).  I have another weak hive and would like to combine the two.  The other has a laying queen for sure.  Can I combine the two hives with newspaper between without being certain that the new hive is queenright.  What would likely happen if I do have two queens?  

Or should I just risk further disturbing/harming these poor bees and search the wired-in comb for eggs or if I'm lucky the queen?  Perhaps it is a greater disturbance/harm to combine the hives without knowing the queen status of each?

Ben

[Brian D. Bray]

The bees may be acting more cohesive due solely to the presence of the brood.  I would check for eggs in the brood comb--carefully of course-- this will tell you if you have a queen there.  If no evidence of fresh eggs or larva I would combine using the newspaper method.

[BeeAttitude]

Thanks, Brian.