Ok, have the first problem of the season.

[Yankee11]

I have a hive that is very big already. 2 deeps and a medium. Lots of bees. The queen had brood and eggs in all 3 boxes. So, last Friday
I found her and put her in a nuc with 2 frames of brood, 1 frame of honey and an empty pulled comb. My expectation was that the big
hive would pull lots of queen cells. I took a peek today and I saw nothing as far as queen cells. This is day 5 after pulling her.

So, now I am thinking I need to introduce her back in there. (whats best way to do that) Newspaper combine. She is laying in the nuc.

Wonder why they have not pulled any queen cells. Any eggs that were laid last Friday should be should  2 days old today. There had to be larva in the 5 days ago.

This hive is way to big to let develop a laying worker or mess up otherwise. There is room in the big hive now as quiet a bit of brood has hatched out.

Boy, they know how to throw a curve ball.

[Perry]

You might not have seen them. When they are getting ready to swarm you will see lots of queen cells. When they are raising an emergency queen they may only be a few cells, located where ever they had eggs/larvae the correct age. It could be in a corner of a frame, something easy to miss.

[tbonekel]

My thought would be to leave it alone. If you see that the big hive has no queen cells and the brood is too old for them to make a queen, I would take some brood out and replace it with some eggs that the queen has laid in the nuc. Just my 2 cents if it's actually worth that much. Stand by for some people with more experience.

[Woody Roberts]

I'm in southern MO. and it's too early here to raise a queen. Are there drones flying there?
I'd think they would try to raise one even if she couldn't get mated.

I've never tried putting one back so can't give any advice on that but if you got her back in there I'd give them another box to draw out.

[Yankee11]

Lots of drones walking around in hives.

I will look again for queen cell next couple days. I wonder if introducing her back after being out for a week would be any different than
introducing a different queen.

What about grafting a bunch of larva and sticking in hive. Lots of young bees in it. I could leave them a couple qcells and harvest the rest
for nucs.

[Perry]

I like the idea tbone had. Swap out a frame of open brood from the nuc with a frame of capped stuff and see if they raise a cell from it. If they don't, they already have something on the go you might have missed.
If you are going to re-introduce her, there is always the possibility they may not accept her, she's been away for a while.

[Yankee11]

Thanks,

I think I will go with that. I removed her to keep them from swarming. I'll put a frame of her eggs from nuc in there and see what happens. I want to use her as a breeder anyway.

Laying like crazy and gentle.

[GLOCK]

 I know it is rare but what about 2 queens?
Just say in.

[Jen]

I have heard of two queen in the same hive before, shrug, why not?

[LazyBkpr]

I have seen two queens in one hive more often than i ever expected to.. So when you look for cells again look for eggs and larvae..
   If you don't see any, take that frame your about to add, find the youngest larvae, the ones closest to the eggs, that are actually smaller than the egg in the next cell, Notch that cell.. IE OTS queen rearing, and it will almost guarantee they will turn it into a queen cell.
   Mel "notches" several cells with the flat of his hive tool, then crunches the larvae he doesnt want used. I use the corner of the hive tool, which will pull down about three cells. Squish the egg/larvae in the adjacent cells so you only have one viable cell notched. You can do that in three or four places if you like, or want more than a couple cells for other hives/nuc's.

[DonMcJr]

I know it is rare but what about 2 queens?
Just say in.

I agree...go into the "Queenless Hive" and look for new eggs... You probably had 2 Queens in there hence the huge population. It happens more than we realize I have been told...

[Yankee11]

Went back into big hive today and found 3 capped queen cells

Guess they were either covered with bees or I just maybe looked to early. Anyway, looks like were good to go.

[LazyBkpr]

Good deal. Glad to hear it!