Every place I have looked aren't getting in queens in until first 2 weeks of April. I had to order a queen pheromone to tide the bees over until I get my queen in for my queenless colony. She should be here in Oregon around the 19th. She'll be flying in from Kentucky. lol.
I have heard some interesting statements about a queenless colony having the workers actually lay unfertilized eggs that become drone or that a virgin queen can lay drones. If that be the case, wouldn't it be plausible to get the brood prepped and see if something miraculous could happen without the need to order a new queen since she'd be showing up too late? I'm not an expert on the breeding science of the bee... yet.
Khalen