Thinking I need a new queen

[Tobikiri]

This is going to be long, so I apologize for that and thank anyone who has the patience to read through it all.

Background:
New beekeeper.
Two new hives, 3lb. packages installed early-May.
Towards the end of May, I did my first inspection which revealed that Hive 1 was superceding (multiple queen cells in middle of frames) and Hive 2 was going gangbusters.

Today I did another inspection.
Hive 1 was doing well with capped and uncapped brood (about 2-3 whole frames worth) and we saw the Queen. Only about 3-4 frames covered in bees, but I expected that considering their supercedure.
However, Hive 2 had lots of capped brood, but no uncapped brood and we did not see the queen. There was one swarm cell (bottom of frame) which got crushed. All frames full of bees except the ones on the ends.

I've got two deep brood boxes on their way and I will definitely put one on Hive 2 since they're so full. I'll hold off on adding the second box to Hive 1 until they build up in numbers.

Now, do I buy a new queen for Hive 2?
Do I pull a frame of brood from Hive 1 and give to Hive 2 to raise a new queen?

I'm hesistant to take a frame of brood from Hive 1 since they're so far behind after superceding and there's not much to spare.

Any suggestions? In the meantime, I'll be trying to find the links to the instructions for using a push-in cage to introduce the new queen.
Thanks everyone.

********EDIT: After I posted this, I began looking through the pictures my husband took during the inspection. Lo and behold, I see the queen in one of the pictures from Hive 2. So, it turns out they're not queenless.
I'm still pretty sure I didn't see any eggs or larvae. What are the reasons a queen would stop laying?

[Rod Weakley]

They could be out of room. When those new deeps get there. You need to not only put one on top of hive #2, but I would pull a couple frames from the original hive move them up into the 2nd story and replace them with foundation or whathave you. This will do 2 things, open up the brood nest so they can make more comb and she can lay more and encourage them up into the 2nd story. Good luck

[Tobikiri]

Thanks for the response. I hadn't thought about moving the frames around like that, that's a good idea.
I just hope those boxes get here soon!
Since I destroyed that swarm cell, what are the odds that they'll still swarm soon? Will they still swarm without having a swarm cell there? Or are they polite enough to make sure the hive will have a queen and make a new swarm cell before they leave?
I just want to get an idea of how imminent this is... if the new boxes will get here in time to thwart swarming.

I know, I know, I'm such a worrier. Sorry.

[Robert Hawkins]

Relax sister,

If they swarm they swarm. From the info you give none of us can tell you if they will or not. You destroyed one swarm cell. How sure are you that it was the only one? Does the queen have room to lay? If not do you have another frame of foundation or what ever you start them with? The only way to prevent swarming is to keep them busy. The only way to stop them from swarming is to split and sometimes that won't work. If they continue building swarm cells find a way to split them. If you need to, you can recombine (newspaper) them later.

Hawk

[Michael Bush]

#2 may have raised a new queen. It takes two weeks after emergence before she starts to lay. So from when they started a queen from a 3 day old larvae even though she will emerge in 13 days it will be 25 days before she is laying.

[Tobikiri]

Hawk - Relaxed. [img]smile.gif[/img] I'm pretty sure that it was the only swarm cell since I looked at all the frames with drawn foundation.
Yes, the Queen has plenty of open cells to lay in. Here's a link to a picture of a frame in that hive. This is actually the same picture in which I located the queen.
Frame - Hive 2

Lots of those uncapped cells have pollen in them, but there are still quite a few open cells, albeit spread out.

Plus, the two frames on the ends are still undrawn.
They're bringing in lots of pollen and (I assume) nectar, so I shouldn't have to be feeding them to get them to drawn that out. But I will feed if I need to.

Michael - Ahhh, hadn't thought of that. Or, atleast, the thought crossed my mind, but didn't stick. So in between the last inspection and this one, they could have built a queen cell, she emerged, but perhaps she hasn't mated yet, or is mated, but hasn't started laying yet.
That sounds very reasonable.

Thank you both!