Time for an update.
We checked in on the hives yesterday.
First the nuc: I've got a queen excluder between the bottom board and the hive body, to prevent the queen from leaving before she's started getting attached to the hive. The nuc was supposed to be the easy hive, with bees that were a little agitated, but not overly aggressive. So, we were surprised yesterday when our first pass through the hive (remember, only five frames) didn't turn up a queen. Of course, we were looking for a queen with a bright red mark. So, we went back through the hive a second time. And I found her! Well, I found a queen. She wasn't marked. The hive had plenty of brood, in a nice pattern, so I knew the BWQ's predecessor must have been a good queen. BUT! Was his the BWQ? Or was she an impostor? We found two queen cups and an emergency queen cell that was pretty far along.
Next, time for the Hot Hive. We found the queen quickly, and she was marked. So, this hive's requeening went well. But the poor bees! It was like a war was being waged inside the hive. The healthy bees were attacking and trying to remove the bees infected with the Chronic Bee Paralysis virus. I am hoping the new queen's offspring will be more resistant to the disease, and start calming things down. The new bees won't start emerging until May 15, assuming the queen was released last Wednesday and started to work right away.
Back to the nuc. The numbers just don't add up to this colony having produced it's own queen. We found the swarm in the swarm trap on 11th, and the swarm could have moved in on the 10th. I am fairly certain they weren't there on the 9th.
In order for the queen we saw Monday to be a queen produced by the swarm, the bees would have had to have started her queen cell on the very day they arrived in the swarm trap. And, we would have had to have totally missed it while looking to kill the queen. I contacted BeeWeaver, and they though the bees had probably cleaned off my queen, but wanted me to be sure she wasn't a new virgin queen. They asked if I had seen any eggs. I had not looked for eggs.
I went back today, and opened the nuc, looking for eggs. There are three frames chocked full of brood. A few empty cells in the middle, with supplies around the edges. Just not many places for the new queen to lay. I didn't see any eggs on these frames. I did see, however, the queen. I was able to look at her pretty closely, and saw no signs of paint. The fourth frame has plastic foundation, and I found a few bees on the frame trying to draw out comb. Most of them were just looking around, scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do. The fifth frame was set up with Popsicle starter sticks. The bees have started a nice bit of comb on that, about the size of my hand with fingers spread. This comb was filled with nectar and pollen.
I worried that the queen was a virgin, and decided it might be a good idea to remove the queen excluder, just in case she needed to go find some company.
When I got home, I met with a friend who has bought BWQ's before. He told me he has had the bees clean off the marks on his BWQ's. Amazing what just a few words from a friend can do for you.
I now feel confident that he queen in the nuc is the one I bought.
The only reason it makes a difference, besides wanting the BeeWeaver traits, is that I don't want to sell this nuc, only to discover that I've sold someone an aggressive africanized hive. I am feeling much better about this nuc, and hope to sell it once I'm sure the queen is laying and the bees have set up some stores.