Is my nuc queenless?

[popcornpie]

I have been given some bees which swarmed on 9th April (23 days ago) presumably with a virgin queen. They have been in a nuc box since then and so far there is no sign of brood (unless there are eggs which I can't see) and I haven't been able to find the queen yet. Today when I checked I found 2 empty queen cups on the face of one frames. The bees are bringing in nectar and pollen. My question is, do you think this hive is queenless? Why are they making queen cups? I don't want to end up with laying workers again.
Thank you.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Bees make queen cups. It doesn't mean they are making swarm preps.
How are you at spotting eggs, polished brood cells?

 

[enrico]

You need to leave them to get in with it. She has to mate and then lay. A small amount of eggs are difficult to spot. Have faith, there is not much you can do if they are queenless anyway.
E

 

[beeno]

How long after swarming did you take delivery of the nuc?

 

[Hivemaker.]

My question is, do you think this hive is queenless?

Give them a test comb.

 

[popcornpie]

The bees swarmed from my friend's hive on 9th April. She gave them to me on the 16th but because she lives less than half a mile from me the bees are currently 'on holiday' in a nuc box in my mum's garden about 4 miles away. I have been waiting for the queen to start laying before transferring them back to a hive in my garden. The weather hasn't been great so maybe that has delayed her. Should I move them back anyway? Then I can try giving them a frame of brood from one of my other hives.

 

[enrico]

Yes, you can move them now.
E

 

[pargyle]

So ...you say 'presumably with a virgin' ... are you sure this was a Caste and not a prime swarm ?

If it was a prime swarm then the queen should be laying by now and it may be that your friend did not get the queen when they swarmed. I think Hivemaker has the best idea - beg or borrow a frame with eggs on and see if they make a queen cell - you will know for certaiin (or pretty much ... they may not build queen cells so that would still not confirm).

Once you know they are queenless you can either let nature take it's course and grow your own queen from the colony or beg or buy a laying queen.

 

[mbc]

Give them a test comb.

If you don't have a frame of brood to give them as a test don't worry as it can take a month for a virgin to mate especially early in the season.

 

[beeno]

Hi popcornpie, For future reference it is very risky to move virgin queen after 7 days as she probably have not finished her mating flights - best practice is to wait until she is laying. Test frame will confirm if you are Q- or not, but not if she is badly mated of course. Weather's been awful, but fingers crossed.

 

[popcornpie]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to move them back here today and I hope to introduce a frame of brood from another hive at the weekend if she's still not laying. Fingers crossed!