How long before?

[topdog17]

How long will it be before a worker bee begins to lay eggs? My hive seems to have been queenless for sure since July 4 or earlier i'm sure but July 4 was the last time I saw any sign of a queen having been there. I did not seen any capped brood, larve, or eggs during that inspection and I have not seen any since (checked today). There is also only oine queen cup that I could find and have not seen any queen cells at all. I have another hive I could get some eggs and larve from but do I have time for a queen to emerge and mate and finally lay eggs? I feel like purchasing a queen would be best option at this time. Is that the best approach or not?

Also, something that seems strange to me is that the bees are not at all aggresive. I thought a queenless hive would act aggresively. Could this hive have a virgin queen and waiting for her to mate? What goes on during that time? Does the queen stay out or does she go back and forth to the drone areas? Should I wait longer?

Thanks for any help, I know some of you beeks have been here before and I would like some of your wisdom right now.

[KQ6AR]

My hive is going through something similar, the week after my virgin queen hatched all the old queen cells where completely removed by the bees. So you could have missed seeing the re-queening, if you went a couple weeks without inspecting.

[BRescue]

Hard to believe you don't have a virgin. But it's a possibility. She will take a mating flight between the 5th and 14th day after emerging. In the mean time she will be quite elusive and not easily recognized. I forgot if you said you are seeing eggs. An unmated queen will be laying drone eggs. I don't have much knowledge about a laying worker.
Richard

[hrogers]

Howdy TopDog --

To determine whether they have a queen, give them a frame with eggs from another hive.
If Qless they will start Q cells within a day or two. I find that a hopelessly Qless hive will
have laying workers in about two weeks.
Doc