# Split but no queen visible



## JasonDunn (Jan 2, 2016)

So I did a split about 20 days ago taking open brood, capped brood, nurse bees and pollen/honey. I did not introduce a new queen as I wanted to learn and see how the bees make their own. I looked in hive a week later and saw 3-4 queen cells. I went in hive yesterday day 20 and I see lots of bees, lots of pollen and nectar, but no queen or brood or eggs. We did have a cold spell last week that may have set back mating flights. My other hives are producing tons of brood with lots of drones so I know they are around.

My question is this should I wait another week before getting a queen locally? Should I take few more frames of brood from other hives to see if they make a queen or should I just wait and see if I missed the queen and she starts laying this week?


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

Too early to know for sure.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Yes, you are too early. Walk away splits, check 28 days after making the split.


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## [email protected] (Aug 1, 2004)

Yes, you are way to early. I'd give them another 10 days, minimum. Even then, all you will likely see is brood and no capped brood. She is almost certainly there.

New queens can be hard to find. They are small and sometimes fast moving. If you are seeing lots of fresh pollen it is a good sign. 

Don't give up before 45 days.

Lloyd


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## JasonDunn (Jan 2, 2016)

Thanks for replies! I feel better with the input. There were tons of bees and they seem to be happy and foraging. I had a gut feeling she is there but without eggs and brood I am not sure. I will check back in 10 days or so and cross my fingers.


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## JGstriker (Jan 25, 2017)

When I had my first swarm last year I was also getting anxious with not seeing a new queen/brood laying. It took about 4 or so weeks but finally saw capped brood in the 5th week after the swarm. Hive did great. I would assume that if you saw swarm cells there is a girl around there


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## pjigar (Sep 13, 2016)

In fact, you don't want to check for brood for 5 weeks to let the queen harden a little. Waiting is the hardest part!


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## Bdfarmer555 (Oct 7, 2015)

Google "the beeyard queen rearing calendar". Enter the day you made the split as the grafting day, unless queen cells were already started when you split. Works great.


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