>When swarming takes place what is the time line of the old and new queen?
Give or take a few days for bad weather or good weather it goes like this:
Queen cells started (call this day 0)
Larvae in queen cells hatch (call this day 3 1/2)
Queen cells capped (call this day 8)
Old queen leaves (call this day 9)
New queen emerges (call this day 16)
New queen hardens (days 16-20 or so)
New queen orients (days 21-25 or so)
New queen mates (days 26-44 or so)
New queen lays (days 28-44 or so)
> Is the new queen hatched before swarming?
No. Capped.
> If so...does she mate before or after the swarm?
After.
> What happens when a swarm decides to cancel and go back to the old hive for a while?
Hard to say.
>Two queens/one hive?
Doubtful. The new queen is not destined to emerge until about a week after the primary swarm. But if there is enough bad weather things are more unpredictable.
If there are afterswarms there are many queen cells and the bees guard them from the first virgin and confine them so they can't get out. After the first virgin leaves, they will let another out. Sometimes in the confusion of the swarm some of the confined queens get out. The swarm queens are not all the same age. They are released by the bees in the order they were laid.
Details by Huber:
http://www.bushfarms.com/huber.htm#oldqueenleadsprimaryswarm