How Long Should I Wait To See Eggs

Spotted this question on the NZ Bees Forum and thought others might be asking the same question?

I caught my second ever swarm 6 days ago, but when I checked today I could see no eggs. The bees have done a great job in drawing out the comb, but no sign of eggs.
My question is how long should I wait to see any eggs / brood before combining these bees with the other swarm I caught (which does have eggs & brood)?

Cheers
Jim

via NZ Beekeepers Forum https://www.nzbees.net/

Hi Jim,

sometimes when a swarm is sent from a colony, the queen is a virgin queen. So you need to give her time to get out on her mating flight.

Some considerations:-

1. What has the weather been like over the last six days, did you have any clear days that she could have gone out?
2. Did the bees have some built out comb in the hive and have the frames been fully drawn out by the bees? She may not have anyway to lay her eggs yet.

Instead of combining I would add a frame of eggs (1 to 3 days old) from your other hive “Once you have ensured it is disease free of course”

Check in a week, any queen cells spotted? You can tell a lot from a hive with what it does with a frame of potential queens.

The bees will either have a queen or start raising a new one on the frame of eggs you added.

hope that helps…Gary