I'm in this crazy situation with 3 colonies and currently no queens laying. At the beginning of April I had one super strong colony. I split that one 18 days ago, then the big parent hive I split swarmed, and I caught the swarm, so that's in a new hive. I believe (please lord) that I have queens in all three, but none are laying as of yesterday that I saw. I didn't break the hives down fully because I didn't want to disturb the queens who are trying to figure it out. We have not had a good string of nice weather days which I assume is not helping, rain then sun then rain again.
ok so the 2 hive with cells with the 24-32 day need,,, should be checked in 6-8 days she should be hatched and maturing/mating at this time.
The Swarm that was caught even with a virgin should have eggs in 12 days. So Split 18 days ago , Then swarmed..... how many days after the split or how many ago did you "hive" the swarm? Add 12 days if no eggs or brood, then decide if you want 3 hives or 2 hives. Combine, or order a queen is an option.
So the swarm hive if it has set for at least 5 day can have a thorough inspection , expect to see eggs and the queen best odds on the center 3 frames. Start from the easiest edge, go slow, look the best you are able. the eggs when hatched look like a wet spot, whitesh, from the larvae food. Sun over your shoulder can help. I would think you see a base ball size circle somewhat centered in the frame, the end 1/4s you do not need to look very hard at. empty frame she seems to like the center.
On the other two If you feel "lucky"
and are a careful inspector, go in to verify the queen cells are open, I only offer this for the one scenario where you said there were more than 2 cells, and you caught the swarm. Do the swarm hive first, IF it is completely egg free and you did not see the queen , then it would be a possibility, that you find a cell or 2 open and a cell or 2 still closed in one of the splits. If the swarm is queen right then IMO you stop there.
IF the swarm is not queen rite, you may be able to salvage a last to hatch cell from one of the splits. At 18 days the cells should be hatched, that you SEEN, however there may have been eggs/ larvae in one of the splits that were also made into queen cells starting the "day you split" or "up to 4 days after the swarm out of the parent" ,, on the queen less part. IMO even at 18 day you are 48 hours past the last cell hatching. If the "then the parent swarmed" was 3 or 4 days later, you could have a yet to hatch cell in the "big parent" IE they may have made more cells then the first batch you seen.
1 of 3 perceived queen less and multiple queen cells, in parent could be justification to inspect those 2 for the express reason of resolving queen rite status of the swarm hive, and do the swarm hive first, if Queen rite done, if not attempt to resolve via Cell from another hive.
Note,, a queen cell you need to use should not be shook, A feather works good for a bee remover, have a sharp knife, if in wax cut 3/8 from the cell to reduce risk of cell damage. if in a wire or on wood, you need the whole frame, a bee less frame swap is ok. to put it in, cut a spot away, where the bees cover, stick it on, it only needs to not fall off, it is hollow and easily squashed, as well a strip of comb with cell in center can be squeezed inbetween to frames, perpendicular. I generally move the whole frame, some time you cannot, do insure the queen is not on the frame you move
should be a nice day today
GG
