Swarm Cells and No Honey

[Chrisd4421]

All,
   First hive - established this past May.  Weekly inspections as I am new and I am trying to get use to things.  Two weeks ago added my 4th medium and all doing well - good brood pattern, 6-7 frames with honey on the edges - all foundation-less and 1/2 of he 4th is already drawn out.

Problems noticed as today's inspection - brood pattern has become spotty, there is NO MORE honey on any frame and I found three empty swarm cell in the 2nd medium (on the bottom of the frames).

I assume I need to start feeding 1:1 to supplement and since I am relatively late in the season for a split, I should just let nature take its course.  Does this sound right?  What else should I do or have done?

I see many bees coming back loaded so I assumed no dearth.  Are there any other signs I should of looked for?  Is the lack of honey even the sign (or result) of a dearth?

Thanks all
Chris in NJ

[harvey]

The swarm cells are empty?  Maybe the hive already swarmed?  They would have eaten as much as they could prior to swarming.  Spotty brood pattern could be from a young queen just starting out?   I guess I am asking as much as suggesting here as I am new to this stuff also.  Good Luck from Michigan.

[JP]

Harvey, you are on track with your observation that they most likely swarmed already.


...JP

[indypartridge]

Are you seeing any eggs or uncapped brood?

Queens stop laying several days before they swarm so they can slim down for flight. Colonies typically swarm right before the new queen emerges. Then there's about a 3-week wait until the new queen matures, mates and starts laying.

Reviewing "bee math" can help in determining what happened, and when:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmath.htm

[Chrisd4421]

Indypartridge,
   Thanks for the Math link....that actually really makes me think about what I saw...

I have some capped brood and some larvae but I did not see any eggs.  If they already swarmed, they did not leave in great numbers - the population seems pretty strong.  I have very little done cells and the areas that I had honey are all empty now -

I just added a top feeder today to see how they do.  I will be checking again in 6 days....

thanks!
Chris in NJ