Queenless hive?

[tycrnp]

How long do I wait before I worry that my hive is queenless?

9/2: Brood, eggs, honey on frames # 2 - 7. No queen sighted. 1 supercedure vs queen cell.
9/16: Queen cells on frames 3, 6 & 7. (Guess it was not a supercedure cell.)
9/23: Did not inspect.
9/30 ? 100% honey. No brood, eggs, larvae. No queen sighted (but I?m not that good.)

I'm hoping the queen hatched, went (or will go) on her mating flight, and made (or will make) it back.

I have other hives with brood.  Should I add a frame of brood/larvae to this hive?  I've had laying workers in another hive and I don't want to go through that again.

[BeeMaster2]

How long do I wait before I worry that my hive is queenless?

9/2: Brood, eggs, honey on frames # 2 - 7. No queen sighted. 1 supercedure vs queen cell.
9/16: Queen cells on frames 3, 6 & 7. (Guess it was not a supercedure cell.)
9/23: Did not inspect.
9/30 ? 100% honey. No brood, eggs, larvae. No queen sighted (but I?m not that good.)

I'm hoping the queen hatched, went (or will go) on her mating flight, and made (or will make) it back.

I have other hives with brood.  Should I add a frame of brood/larvae to this hive?  I've had laying workers in another hive and I don't want to go through that again.

Give her another 2 weeks based on 9/16. Young queens are hard to spot.

[little john]

I normally give the colony exactly one calendar month from the last time I saw a capped queen cell before taking any action - for 3 reasons:

1) it's an easy time-period to remember.
2) it gives plenty of time for the queen to perform - sometimes they can be a little slow in getting started, for reasons they've never explained to me.
3) 'cause the only thing I'm really interested in seeing are capped worker cells. Eggs and larvae are always good signs, but the only time you'll know for sure that she's been mated successfully is when you find normally capped worker cells.

I checked a late mating this very morning, only to discover that they were enlarging the cell edges in order to 'dome' the larvae.  Bummer.  Another one to combine in the coming week ...

Donating a frame as insurance against LW wouldn't hurt - providing you don't significantly weaken the donor colony in the process.
LJ

[tycrnp]

OK. Will continue to monitor.  Thanks!