EDIT AND ADD:
wm..........when there is pollen coming in the queen is laying..........pollen is needed to raise baby bees. pollen will be available up here before any real nectar flow, may be different for you in your environment. have you seen any drones?
Whew! This poor dab of bees has had a rough life. Let me give an update:
After we added two frames of brood and two frames of honey, we waited a week to check on them.
When we checked, two of the frames were slimed with SHB larvae.
We pulled those two nasty frames, and moved the clean frames into a clean nuc box and bottom board.
I managed to peel the top of the queen cell off in the process.
Then, I put on the first nuc box above the second with two sheets of newspaper between. I didn't realize it was two, I thought it was only one, until it was too late. In the top nuc box I added one frame of honey and one frame of brood, along with the bees that were on these frames.
The next day I stood outside of the nuc, and could hear a bunch of angry bees inside. Their sisters in arms were also highly agitated. I had a lot of bees in my face. Thankfully I was protected.
I managed to make an opening in the paper so the two hives could mix, and the bees calmed down a little.
Yesterday, 3Reds and I pulled off the top nuc and added the frames to the bottom nuc, pulling two of the frames of foundation that we had put in there. We found a few bee larvae on the bottom board, and a bunch of crumbs. I replaced the bottom board with the clean one.
Inspecting the bee larvae, I saw a few shb larvae, also. So, while the bees have a better situation, they are still fighting (and winning, I think) SHB eggs and larvae. I didn't see any adult shb in the nuc. Just in case, 3Reds and I added a beetle blaster with a bit of oil in it to help the bees.
Oh, and the bees had repaired the damaged queen cell. In addition, I saw two new queen cells being built in the brood frame from the top nuc.
During all of this process I've built a new hive stand, which is a bit higher off the ground, and only has two legs, rather than four. I added Diatomaceous Earth around and under the stand.
This afternoon, I suited up and stood outside of the hive. The bees are still defensive, but have cooled off a bit. I only had three or four bees in my face, rather than the dozen or so I had before. And they abandoned me much more quickly.
There is better activity outside of this nuc than I have seen before. Even more joy, as I saw a couple of bees enter the hive with pollen!
The first queen should not emerge until April 10. The other two are not due for another week and a half, I think.
I have one guard bee that keeps harassing me if I take too much time getting into my truck, a good distance from the hive. She even bounced herself off the back of my head once when I started walking in the direction of the hive (to go to my workshop).
I am wondering at what point these normally peaceful bees will return to normal. When the queen emerges? Or not until after she starts laying eggs?
Mostly, right now I am hopeful that 3Reds and I have made a successful split, despite all of our rookie mistakes.