Wait or buy??

[Tango16]

Hi all,I'm a complete newbie so please don't shout
I need advice please.
Got my first nuc 3 weeks ago,transferred to hive,saw capped and uncapped brood,didn't see eggs as not had my reading glasses on but happy as I saw queen, looked in following weekend and couldn't find queen for love nor money,no eggs and just a few uncapped larvae,there was However 3 supercedure cells mid frame all in a row,one was a rather brown at the end almost scab like, looked in again today same state but all 3 cells have been virtually removed,still no sign of origin queen,virgin queen or any damn queen!!
Do I leave alone for longer and hope they are in the process of requeening themselves or do I order a new queen asap and get her installed before the hive starts to dwindle?
Any help appreciated and thanks in advance

 

[Beefriendly]

For what it's worth with queen cells inside the hive ( You are sure they are queen cells?) you do not buy another queen until you know what is going on.

 

[pargyle]

Hi all,I'm a complete newbie so please don't shout ��
I need advice please.
Got my first nuc 3 weeks ago,transferred to hive,saw capped and uncapped brood,didn't see eggs as not had my reading glasses on but happy as I saw queen, looked in following weekend and couldn't find queen for love nor money,no eggs and just a few uncapped larvae,there was However 3 supercedure cells mid frame all in a row,one was a rather brown at the end almost scab like, looked in again today same state but all 3 cells have been virtually removed,still no sign of origin queen,virgin queen or any damn queen!!
Do I leave alone for longer and hope they are in the process of requeening themselves or do I order a new queen asap and get her installed before the hive starts to dwindle?
Any help appreciated and thanks in advance

Have patience ...

1. Was the Nuc ready to be transferred to a full hive .. best to leave them in a nuc until there is at least three frames of BIAS.

2. Queens often go off lay when you move things about.

3. It's sometimes easier to spot 1/2 day old larvae rather than eggs and wasting time looking for the queen is very invasive. You don't need to see the queen every time.

4. If there were uncapped Queen cells (might have been play cups or just brace comb) you should look to see if there is a grub in there - if there isn't they are not serious.

5. If they pulled them down they didn't need them.

6. If the Nuc was not boiling with bees there may not have been enough to populate a full hive - I tend to dummy down a new hive to just the frames they have drawn plus one or two and fill the rest of the space with insulation - add frames as they need them. Less space to work with means the bees have more chance of working with the brood they have.

There's a few questions you need to ask yourself before panicking and thinking the queen has gone - you should not consider adding a replacement queen until you are absolutely sure they are queenless and it does not sound to me like they are ...

Stop fiddling with them - give them another week to 10 days on their own and have another look then.

 

[mickbees23]

I think you need to talk to who you got your nuc from.

Was it a 2018 queen or a 2017 queen split from a colony with brood which was replacing the queen or in the process of swarming. You shouldn't really have to deal with a swarming nuc a few weeks later unless it was rammed with bees.

 

[Tango16]

Hi all again ,thanks for your kind advice so far, based on some of the answers I will leave them till weekend/midweek and take a peek and hopefully have some better news, I also have had a really kind offer of a visit and help for which I am very great full, thank you all ��������