now what?

[drmwarden]

I opened my new hive today, one week after installation.  The queen had not been released, and although she was still alive the workers in the queen cage with her were dead.  She looked OK, so I pried up the screen and released her into the body where there were workers nearby.  Should I now wait a week and then look for eggs?

In my old hive, I went back in and checked the two supers: one of now drawn comb   and the other with some honey from last year.  I did find a little bit of brood and some empty queen cells on the bottom of one frame.  I still haven't been able to find the queen, recall I requeened about 3 weeks ago.  What should I do now?  I hate to keep on disrupting them.  Should I keep looking for the queen once/week or should I just give them a few weeks and see what happens?

[thegolfpsycho]

When you checked to see if the queen had been released, were they drawing comb?  I'm guessing bees from outside the cage were attending to her.  I would give her at the very least  four or five days, maybe even a week, then look for eggs.  Give her a chance to get it going again after being caged up for a week or more.

As far as your existing colony, I don't know what your plans for it are, but I would confirm eggs or larvae present, evaluate what needs to be done, then get back out.  Give her a chance to do her stuff.  If it has been cool, with no nectar flow, they often don't get right into gear.  I would give them some syrup, and a couple days, then inspect for eggs and or larvae.  Decide what to do from there.