Potentially queenless?

[Alex.mc]

On the 28th May my hive swarmed, leaving plenty of QC's behind along with stores and brood.
A week later and all the CQ's are opened and empty. I did not spot the new queen, but I am not experienced in spotting an unmarked queen as yet.
On the weekend (approx 2 weeks after swarm) I inspected and found a well populated hive, lots of stores and active workers filling, but still no obvious Queen and no eggs. Apparently no brood left either as they all seem to have hatched.

Before I go ordering a Queen etc.... should I wait another week to 2 weeks for signs of eggs? From what I have read it can be 2-4 weeks for a queen to hatch, mate and start laying?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I should imagine you might have lost one or two cast swarms but hopefully one virgin has survived and mated.
I have waited 6 weeks after emergence fir someone queens to start laying down that’s around 7 weeks from your swarm.
You need a test frame to ascertain whether there is a queen or not.

 

[Erichalfbee]

What you should have done after the swarm went is to remove all the QCs except one open one, mark the frame and return in a week to remove any more. You could look a week later to make sure your cell shows signs that the queen has emerged then leave alone for three weeks.

 

[Poly Hive]

Patience is your friend. Many introduced queens are lost on introduction due to the presence of a virgin because a test frame has not been used.

PH

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

On the weekend (approx 2 weeks after swarm) I inspected and found a well populated hive, lots of stores and active workers filling, but still no obvious Queen and no eggs. Apparently no brood left either as they all seem to have hatched.

They swarmed on the 28th of May, it would probably have been a week later that queens started to emerge, doubtless, as you didn't reduce the QCs to one they will have cast a few swarms since then leaving you with the youngest virgin in the hive (let's say, for arguments sake she emerged a bit later than the rest, probably just before you opened up - I bet you missed a few of the later emergency cells on your visit a fortnight after the swarm) so a very good chance she hasn't long emerged and definitely not mated yet - you have weeks to go before even thinking they are queenless.

 

[Alex.mc]

Thank you all for the replies. I'll hang on for a few more weeks by the looks of things.
This is still a steep learning curve for me at the moment, but it's been a great experience so far nonetheless.