[snackman508]

I will start off by saying this is my fist year with bees and have little to no experience with them. so about 3-4 weeks ago my grandma calls and says she has a swarm on her fence, i head over put it in a box and transport it to my hive. they seem to be doing good, and have started capping honey. Heres the thing I have yet to see the queen or see any brood. any ideas? should i have seen brood by now? what are my options buying a queen, getting some brood from my aunt.

 

[gunter62]

Yes. You should have seen brood by now. If your aunt has brood you can get, that would be great. They may be queenless, and need resources to make a queen.

 

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Sometimes a virgin queen is with the swarm and they take a while to get going. Have a look at the center of the cluster and see if any cells are polished, a sign that they are awaiting eggs. A couple of years ago the same thing happened to me, and after I had shook the supposedly queenless cluster in front of a hive I found a small patch of eggs in some polished cells in the middle frame. I have usually seen these cells at the top of the frame. If you see nothing go ahead and buy a queen.

 

[burns375]

In my experience the smaller swarms tend to have virgins, afterswarms.

Finding a virgin, especially a black one can very difficult.

 

[Mr.Beeman]

It wouldn't hurt to add a frame or two of eggs and brood. If they start making queen cells you know they don't have a queen.

 

[dphillipm]

Yes, I would give them some open brood today.For the same reason as beeman, but also to keep the hive from a laying worker. I have never seen a hive develop a laying worker when there is open brood.