I'm getting so much terrific advice from all of you, I'm sure you can help me on this one. My sweet little queen, newly acquired this spring as part of a nuc, packed her little bags, rounded up a bunch of her best gal friends and swarmed away. I watched them in a big fir tree in front of my house over the course of two days, but they were up too high for me to retrieve them and apparently didn't like the hive box I set out for them. I tried tapping on it. Maybe I picked the wrong tempo or have a lousy sense of rhythm. Fortunately she left behind 5 or 6 queen cells. Since there were still plenty of bees remaining in the hive and they have an ample store of nectar, I thought it might be interesting to split the colony that remains into two. I've placed brood and queen cells in each box surrounded by frames full of nectar and honey. I have partially drawn comb, foundation and filled comb in boxes on top of each. The original colony is going strong with field bees commuting in and out when weather permits (this is western Oregon after all). But the new colony has only a few slightly disoriented field bees coming and going. I know the older field bees will return to the original colony, so this new upstart colony isn't getting much field action. Should I attempt to intervene in some way? Will they get rolling when some of the bees mature to the field? What else should I be watching for? Any and all advice is welcomed. Thanks for your help! Marcia in Portland