>Let me tell you, I have heard a lot of bad advice lately. A friend told me that she was advised not to look at her newly hived swarm for two weeks. I suggested looking in right away to see if she even got the queen. In two days she should see eggs. 
....The main swarm period could be over in two weeks!

I agree with the above, but
I was wishing to re-visit.

In my experience, the prime swarm will lay up
brood first, -so identifying that the hive has
a laying queen would a rather simple procedure 
for a newbee.  And could be performed between 
2 to 4 days after colony initiation.

Where a difficulty may arise, is if the newbee
has a cast on her hands.  The cast will generally
set up honey stores during the first week or longer.
The queen, being smaller and a bit more shy are 
sometimes difficult to find.  If a newbee is unable
to spot the queen,  these symptoms may appear to 
a newbee to be strong evidence that the colony is
queenless. 

See:
Swarm Nomenclature. at:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/

The advice I have always given newbees for many years
is to 'keep your options open by providing options.'  
I suggest to newbees who insist on keeping many colonies, to 
as little as a single colony -to keep a few nucs on hand.  If you 
have questions with a new swarm, you can let it play out a bit 
longer without much worry.  By placing swarms from the prime 
swarm season (which may last less than 3 weeks) in nucs,
you will not 'miss out' on the prime swarming season, and
you will not suffer a set back in your beekeeping experience.

Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/

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