I am in the need for some answers relating to New quee Unfortunatly, I have been busy with work and family this spring, and my 2 hives have not recieved the attention needed. So, bees being bees, they both swarmed on 4/12 (19 Days ago) about 3 weeks ago, and didnt hang around for me to catch them. According to the books, the new queens should emerge 2-4 Days after the swarm, First Flight in another 3 days mated in another 3 and Laying 5 Days Later (Total of 15 days - if my numbers are right). I waited until yesterday to look for eggs and need some answers to what I found. Another interesting (to me at least) bit of information. I had marked queens (visually seen during inspections) in my hives last spring - lots of bees and lots of honey - only one swarm which was caught and subsequently recombined with the hive it came from - When I checked the hives last fall, I visually spotted unmarked queens in both hives (supercedure). Brood pattern was excellent, so I stuck with them and considered it a Requeened hive. I thought of requeening this spring, but build up and pattern was good, they were less than 7 month old queens, so I followed the "Aint broke dont fix it" rule... no Sugar Syrup or Pollen was fed to either hive, and they were still going like gangbusters - resulting in the swarms. Hive #1 was devoid of any sign of a queen. No Eggs, No Larvae, No Capped Brood. (At least 21 days since the last egg was laid) My Hive 1 concerns are that there is no Viable Queen within the hive - or have I not waited long enough to see her evidence. Lost on her flights, Ate by a bird, etc. Hive #2 had No Larvae or Capped Brood, but I did see eggs in a random pattern on 2-3 frames (the eggs were well placed in the cells - standing up in the bottom of the cell, and no evidence of multiple eggs in a cell). So - it has been at least 21 days since the old queen laid eggs, and the new queen has not been laying eggs for more than 3 Days. Hive #2 Concerns are that the queen was not well mated (sporadic pattern). Has enough time elapsed since the swarms that they should have been laying and at least seen lots of eggs, and maybe some small larvae. Should I give them a few more days to become established (then requeen in the fall) - or find the queens in both hives kill them and requeen now? Thanks Rod Billett Lexington, SC