Today was beautiful and I sat and watched the bees come and go, pondering my
plans for this spring.
I have been feeding 1:1 syrup and decided to see if they would take pollen
substitute from a box.  They ignored it so I sprinkled some on their landing
board. I spilled too much and covered some bees. I thought that the other bees
would clean them off but they didn't.  It was interesting to see the white
ones leave on a foraging trip and return.  It may be a way to track bees to
find out where they are working.
 
Then I notice some large bees (3 or 4) coming and going in one hive only. They
were larger than drones and flew with their legs hanging down. I needed to
change the hive body so I decided to do so.  I found lots of capped brood,
larva, bees and honey.  I did not see any eggs(I have never seen one so maybe
I don't know what to look for) nor could I find the queen.  I did find very
large larva, all in brace comb on the top bars, about 3/4 " long and fat.  I
did not see any peanut looking queen cells.
What have I seen today?
I am in Ky USA. Is it too early for them to make queens?
I have queen ordered to use to make splits.  Some say leave the old queen in
the colony and put the one in the nuc.  Some say visa versa. How do I know
what's best?