[cbird]

I am a brand new beekeeper without anyone local who can guide me and don't know much yet so I am hoping you can help me figure out what to do? My hive looks like it is thriving-it is completely full except for about 4 empty top bars. I just saw a queen cup and thought that maybe it is time for me to do a split? If so I am not sure of when and how is the best way to do this? or maybe I need to do something else before they swarm? It is possible they have other queen cells but they were very angry when I started getting into their brood comb when inspecting and so I stopped.
Thanks so much for any guidance you can give me!

 

[burns375]

queen cups don't mean much unless there is jelly inside. From observation strong populous hives tend to build quite a few cups on the bottom of frames. They are more or less staged if approach conditions arises.

 

[cbird]

This cup is on the side, does the location matter? Is it worth me going into the brood nest to try to see if there are others?