Mairzy-doats. What you have said has concerned me. You parenthesis "nuc". Did you get nucs or package bees? I would like some clarification on this, elaborate. I guess I could spend the time and look at your other posts to see if you indicate which type of bee colonies, but I don't have the time.
When you get a nuc there should be capped brood, at least a frame or two at least. I want to know if you paid "nuc" price or "package" price. I hope that you got what you paid for. Anyways, I am nosey, yes, but mostly, I am concerned, that is my "nosiness" for many things and my need for knowledge, truth. Please elaborate to me. Have that most wonderful and awesomely great day, health. Cindi
By the way, what you may be seeing is the bees just building their cups for practice, or it may be a supercecdure cell. Swarm cells are usually (I say usually) more in numbers/clusters and look like these:
In the picture below you will see a couple of things, which I shall describe....The swarm cells are not in that same kind of cluster as in the above picture. THey are a little more spread out on the frame. Look at the queen cell that has the side missing. That is a queen cell that has been ripped open by another queen, whom has emerged firstly and performed a death killing upon her. She has worked hard and fast to perform this murderous task.
If there was an emerged queen, the top of the queen cell would have been opened by the queen within. It would look like this description, kind of...
Picture opening a can of veggies or something of that sort. When you have almost finished opening the can and the lid is still attached by that little piece of metal and a kitten popped out. That is along the lines of what happens when a queen emerges. When a queen is beginning to emerge from her prison, she turns around and around in the cell, biting off the cell "lid" with her mandibles, the lid to the cell is still generally still holding on in one tiny little spot that the queen has not knawed away and she comes out. Funny eh? Hope this may have shed a little clarity, or confused you deep as the blue skies above, hee, hee, smiling.
That stuff that you see in the cells below the cell that has the open side is chalkbrood, a brood disease that can be bothersome in the colony in the cool days of spring.
Hope that you feel good about the answers that you have asked for your question. My comments here have been a little lengthy, but as you get to know me, you will see that I am a ramblin' on type of gal, smiling. Have that most beautiful, most wonderful day, to love this life we all live, health. Cindi