OK so I have read the article about starting an emergency queen. I don't have the time or expertise for that. What would happen if I took a good strong hive deep and set it on a new base. Would they make a new queen or would they die out?
What is the situation here for us to draw from?
A queenless colony with the right resources can make a new queen from worker eggs or very young larvae.
A good set up for this is any queenless colony packed with bees, the more bees, the better.
If you are trying to do a simple split, place the queenless hive where the old, queenright colony was and you will pick up returning bees to boost the new set up.
No matter what you do, you are on the bee's time table and you will have to wait for them to make a new queen. If you can't wait, then you will need to purchase a queen.
I'm giving this a shot based on very little information. Hope this helps.
...JP