Post swarm, what to look for and when.

Griffo · Aug 4, 2015

I have a small colony which swarmed on July 11th. I was able to collect the swarm and put it in my spare hive and they are now doing well. I inspected the original hive yesterday and could see no trace of eggs or brood. Lots of drones around, didn't see a queen. Is it too early to expect to see brood ? Maybe I should start thinking about buying in a queen.
I moved the hived swarm to the other end of my plot (50 metres) so recombining will not really be an option.

REDWOOD · Aug 4, 2015

You need to give them a bit longer before thinking about reuniting, which can be done from 50 meters away. Not having eggs is no indication you don't have a queen, all it tells you is that she is not laying, uniting two colonies with a queen in each is a no no.

jenkinsbrynmair · Aug 4, 2015

It's less than a month - too early yet to expect brood especially with the weather we've been having

beeno · Aug 5, 2015

Hi Griffo,
The fact that you have got drones hanging around is a good sign. 18 days from emergence, so she should be mated. Sometimes placing some open brood in the hive kickstarts them laying or so it would appear. You could possibly have missed some eggs as well, it is easily done as one does not want to tear the hive apart with a newly mated queen in there. Good luck.