I checked the hive yesterday to make sure all was well. Alas, the queen did not make it. Either she hid in a dark corner and escaped me, or she got vacced and didn't survive. If that is the case, she will be the first queen that didn't survive this vac we made. Either way, no queen. They are building out one queen cell.
So, the bad news is I was unable to save the genetics. I'm pretty sure it's too late for me to wait a couple of weeks for a new queen to hatch out and start laying. The good news is, I have a brand new queen that needs a colony. I had swarm cells a few weeks ago in a strong hive that was out of room. I removed two brood frames that had swarm cells with bees on them, and one honey/pollen frame, and put them in their own deep. The parent colony did not swarm, and the new queen has begun laying in the smaller colony.
So, I think the smart thing to do will be to do a newspaper combine. Should I put the smaller colony with the queen on top, or bottom???