Greetings all,

I recently discovered that one of my hives has become queen less. On
previous inspections, there had been larvae and capped brood. I failed to
notice the lack of eggs, however. (Lesson learned)Now, all that remain
are a few clusters of capped drones, which are hatching out.......I
suspect they'll all be out in the next couple of days.

If my calculations are correct, the queen has probably been gone for a
minimum of 3 weeks, maybe even 4. The workers (of which there is an
abundance) are filling every nook and cranny with pollen and nectar
(which is making for very few available cells in which to lay eggs. I
have found a few open queen cups (not cells), and they are empty.

I have a new queen on the way. Here are my concerns:

1.) Since there are no eggs, can I safely assume there is no other queen
in residence?
2.) Since there are no eggs, can I safely assume there is no laying
worker in residence?
3.) If the hive has been queen less for at least 3 weeks, can I place the
new queen (in her cage and plugged with candy) in the hive and have a
reasonable expectation that they will be glad to see her, and accept her
with minimal or no animosity?
4.) The youngest bees, in the queen less hive, are now probably a minimum
of 1-2 weeks old. Would it be wise to add some brood or young bees, from
one of my other hives, to the queen less hive, along with the new queen
when she arrives?
5.) I was going to put the queen in a body with foundation (I don't have
any extra drawn comb) above the honey supers, and top it off with my
gallon jar feeder of syrup. My logic here is 1.) To entice workers up for
the syrup. 2.)Add to the apparent natural nectar flow to stimulate wax
production and comb construction. 3.) Take advantage of the rising heat
from the mass of bees below. 4.)Let the current workers continue to pack
in the pollen and nectar down below, until the new queen gets
established, after which I'd move the brood chamber to the bottom. Any
comments on this strategy?

I would appreciate any advice or shared experiences on this situation.
Thanks in advance to all willing to offer.

Ed Heinlein
Helena, MT