Strange swarm

[Goodwood]

Two weeks ago one of my empty hives was occupied by a small swarm
It covered only two- three frames and I assumed it was a cast.
No queen seen
Since then it has foraged and created a fair bit of honey and pollen stores
Slowly building new comb.
No laying visible at all at any point until yesterday and no obvious queen seen.
Yesterday i found two charged queen cells both with royal jelly and one quite elongated and ready for capping. All I can see in the base of these cells is jelly...no obious larvae
There are no eggs or larvae to be seen apart from a handful of cells with what seems to be royal jelly.
The bees are docile and seem quite happy with their current situation.
Anyone any ideas as to what i have?

 

[MuswellMetro]

Two weeks ago one of my empty hives was occupied by a small swarm
It covered only two- three frames and I assumed it was a cast.
No queen seen
Since then it has foraged and created a fair bit of honey and pollen stores
Slowly building new comb.
No laying visible at all at any point until yesterday and no obvious queen seen.
Yesterday i found two charged queen cells both with royal jelly and one quite elongated and ready for capping. All I can see in the base of these cells is jelly...no obious larvae
There are no eggs or larvae to be seen apart from a handful of cells with what seems to be royal jelly.
The bees are docile and seem quite happy with their current situation.
Anyone any ideas as to what I have?

The no queen seen could be that you have a queen from a scrub/emergency queen cell made from a 4 day old larva and that QC was missed by a beekeeper , she may look no more queen like than a fat worker, the swarm has made a QC from the first eggs the emergency queen laid

But it could be you have laying workers and they are hoplessly queenless and made a queen cell with the first workers drone egg

if the queen cell looks normal then it could be the first scenerio, if it is mishapen and dies it is the second and the other larva seen will be drones

 

[enrico]

But a frame of eggs from a good hive and destroying present queen cells may give you another hive of bees!

 

[Goodwood]

Thanks both
Although the first scenario fits, i will do what Enrico suggests
Silly really should have thought of it myself...

 

[Goodwood]

Inspected today
Found a small queen but now some eggs too.
Original queen cell had been taken down
Just one play cup left
Cut that out to be safe
Added frame of bias in any case to boost colony