Thanks. I didnt think about swiching the order of the boxes after a week or so.
That sounds reasonable and logical.
I am aware that the old hive may have raised a virgin by now but I cant find one for the life of me.
I, unfortunately, tore off all the queen cells a couple weeks ago after they swarmed for fear of them swarming again (this was a beginners mistake yes, but i did it)
Then when I realized what i had done, I waited for a week to see what they would do, make more or what.
Sure enough they made more and I saw them a week ago. But now, 4 days after that inspection, they are all gone. The bees tore them down. How could they have raised a queen in a week and 4 days?
I am just so perplexed and confused. Thats why I just wanted to make this simple. They seem to be doing strange stuff on their own. How did they raise new queen cells when there were seemingly no eggs? and why when they built those new ones did they tear them down 11 days (or less) later? None of this seems to be going by the instruction manual (sarcasm).
I realy appreciate your help. I will wait for maybe 7 more days to see if a virgin was hatched. There is still scant amounts of brood in the old hive so im getting close to worrying about laying workers once all those final brood areas hatch.
Chris