Wow...I really showed my "rookiness" when I went in and cut out all those swarm cells. I should have evaluated whether they had already swarmed before I did that. I believe now that they very likely did swarm based upon the number of swarm cells I found and the low number of bees in the hive and the near total absence of food in the hive.
So I went back to the "swarmed" hive to see if my fears were correct...they were. They are now trying to create a queen all over again...this time with supercedure cells meaning the original queen is absent. Here is a picture of supercedure cells...they look similar to swarm cells except that they are near the top of the frame whereas swarm cells are near the bottom.
Anyhow my only hope now for this hive is that they can produce a new queen...otherwise I'll have to go and buy one. I'll go in and check in a week or so to see what I find. In the meantime I am going to add a couple pollen patties to help them replenish their food supplies...will also cook up a batch of syrup for them. The objective now is to get their population and food stores built up enough so they can survive the winter.
The other hive still seems very strong...there are definitely many more bees in that hive. They also seem more aggressive...I've been stung both times I've checked them in the past couple days...so I haven't been able to do a full inspection. Will need to go in with my gear on to ensure they are not about to swarm as well!
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