[Michael Bush]

>I have heard that the bees will move honey up from the brood chamber into the supers to make room for the queen to have more space to lay in, does anyone have any thoughts on this please?

Thoughts? Bees will move honey up from the brood chamber into the supers to make room for the queen to have more space to lay in. That's my thought. When they do the opposite, fill the brood chamber with nectar so the queen can't lay, they are usually about to swarm...

 

[ncbees]

Does there have to be a swarm cell as well when they are moving the honey back down to confirm the pending swarm or will they swarm without the queen?

 

[Margot1d]

Does there have to be a swarm cell as well when they are moving the honey back down to confirm the pending swarm or will they swarm without the queen?

Yes, you should see queen cells mostly on the bottom of the frames. If they have jelly in them they are beginning the process. Once they are capped they are ready to go as soon as the first queen emerges. Your current queen will go first, followed but the virgin queens leading after swarms.

 

[Michael Bush]

>Does there have to be a swarm cell as well when they are moving the honey back down to confirm the pending swarm or will they swarm without the queen?

They will not swarm before they build swarm cells and they will not leave without a queen, or at least not for very long... but the backfilling of the broodnest may pre-date the building of queen cells...