On May 25th someone else's swarm arrived in my yard and moved into some empty hive boxes on my patio where I'd been sorting old comb.  Easiest swarm catch ever!  Once they settled down I moved them to a better spot, and began feeding syrup.  It was a pretty small swarm so I gave them a frame of brood from my boomer hive to help get them going.  The queen has been a poor layer all summer,  and I thought I might just pinch her and boost one of my other hives with those bees.  During my last inspection of this hive (yesterday - August 31st) I found at least a half dozen queen cells in various stages of completion both mid-frame and on the bottom. It seems strange that the bees took so long to decide to supersede her. 

Is it possible for a new queen to get properly mated this late in the year?  If the hive swarms neither will survive; I'm inclined to try making one nuc for "insurance" and leaving one queen cell in the original hive, since I've heard a mother/daughter can co-exist.  We're having an unusually warm and very dry summer here in the Pacific Northwest, so it's good weather for mating, but drone rearing is probably winding down by now. =  I know that in a commercial apiary such a hive would just be allowed to dwindle; but I can afford to "experiment".  Any suggestions/thoughts?

Mary Ann Kae
Seattle

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