What's happening in the two-queen hive?

What's going on in the new hive? I wish I knew.  I will tell you, though, what I saw when I went in on the 27th.
The day previous, I had seen the bees doing their orientation flights.  I got my net and marker paint and marked 6 bees that were hovering in front of the new hive.  I figured that if I saw any marked bees in the top super, then I would know that the bees I had combined were going out of the hive.  To really make the experiment work I should have marked a couple of hundred bees, but I don't have any grad students working for me.
So here's what I saw, from the top down.  There was loud buzzing going on, almost a roar.  I was surprised by the large number of bees in the Vivaldi box.  Usually there are only a few, but here were a hundred or more.  Many flew off when the lid was removed.  I wondered if they were trying to get out that way, through the vents.

In the medium super I spotted the queen.  But there were no eggs, larvae or capped brood.  There was nectar in many cells.  I didn't see any marked bees.  However, if there's nectar, I have to assume the bees are foraging.  Why isn't the queen laying?  I know she's mated since she was laying while in the nuc.  Perhaps she's being influenced by pheromones from the bottom queen.  I'll have to write to one or two experts about that.  I got the marking paint and marked a bunch of bees.  I'll look for them at the entrance in order to confirm my assumption that they are foraging.  (As of today and a total of maybe 10 minutes of observation, I haven't seen any marked bees.)
In the top deep box, there was still nothing happening.  Only some brace comb on the bottom.
In the brood box, I didn't spot the queen but did see capped brood and larvae. 
The population just doesn't seem to be increasing and there's no honey to speak of, just the nectar in the medium box.  So, the question, what's going on in the new hive?  Time will tell, maybe.

I also looked into the old hive.  There is no honey in the top super and a couple of frames with capped honey in the other medium super.  Lots of brood and several drones.  I did not see the queen.
I brushed bees off the capped brood, collecting almost half a cup for a sugar shake mite count.  The results, 8 mites.  I guess I had ~250 bees, so 3.2 mites/100 bees, an acceptable level.
It doesn't look like a honey crop this fall.

The bees leaving the jar after the sugar shake

The eight varroa mites

Brief two-queen hive report

I inspected the new hive yesterday.  In the medium super (the topmost box) I spotted one queen.  The number of bees seemed the same.  There were empty cells, no larvae or capped brood.  There was a small area on two abutting frames with nectar and capped honey.
The middle box (the top deep box) still had no drawn comb and only a few bees on it, mostly at the bottom.  The bottom box had lots of bees.  I didn't spot the queen, but there were larvae of all ages and capped (and hatching) brood.  No extra honey stores.
I wonder what's going on in the two queen hive and if the bees in the top are even foraging.  While looking in the box, I considered getting the paint and brush from the house to mark some bees.  That way I could see if any of the bees going in and out of the hive were from there.  I touche some bees on their back with a small stick to see how they'd react if I tried to mark them as they stood about.  They didn't move much so it may be possible.  I decided not to mark any then, but I'll think about doing it next week.  I wouldn't want to accidentally get paint on their wings or eyes as they crawl about.  Maybe there is an easy way to anesthetize them.

Hive combining successful... but wait, there's more!

I went into the new hive today to see how the combining had turned out.  In the few days, I had seen only one more small piece of newspaper on the ground and no dead queen bee.  I inspected today without smoking the bees.

Medium super with 2 frames removed

Chewed newspaper in place

First I noticed that there were still a lot of bees in the medium super, the one into which I had put the frames from the nuc.  I just took the box off and set it on the inverted cover without inspecting it.  The bees had done a pretty good job on the newspaper.  There was a large part gone from the center and a smaller holes at the edges.  I knew the old and new bees were able to get together and the new bees had a way out of the hive.
The next box is the top deep box.  It was pretty much empty with frames without comb and only a few bees hanging around.
Then, the bottom box.  Lots of bees, as before.  I had intended to take out the drone frame and replace it with a regular frame, but it had some capped honey and nectar in it.  No capped brood or larvae, so I left it.  This was just about the only honey in the hive.  On the remaining frames was capped brood and larvae of various ages.  Then I spotted the queen, fat and golden.  All's well, I figured.
I put the boxes back on and inspected the medium super- very little honey, capped brood and larvae, and another queen!  I have a two-queen hive!  I put everything back together and went to look up what to do.
The two queens are separated by the empty deep box.  I guess there are essentially two colonies in one hive.  Beekeepers do make two-queen hives because they produce more honey at a lower cost.  When this is done purposefully, they use a queen excluder to keep the queens apart.  I also read that 10% of colonies will naturally have two queens, often in the spring. 
I had wondered what I should do; nothing or remove one queen.  It is clear that I should do nothing.  The bees will figure it out themselves.  In the meantime, I expect the colony(ies) will quickly enlarge.  It needs to start making some honey stores.
I also hefted the top super on the old hive to check its weight (an indication of honey storage).  It felt like only a few pounds.  I'll check again in a week to see if it feels any heavier.

Hive combining report

This is what I found on the ground in front of the new hive this morning.

First evidence of the hives uniting.  With a piece this size chewed out, the colonies are able to mix together.  I've been listening for a lot of buzzing in the boxes that would indicate fighting, but haven't heard any.  I was actually looking for a dead queen when I found this piece of newspaper.  We'll all have to wait until later this week to see what's going on inside.

Hives united. Olea's hive queenright.

A lot was done today.
I decided to unite the nuc with the new hive.  The new hive isn't very populous and I didn't want to just leave the nuc all winter.  I figured it had to be getting pretty full and with only five medium frames, there wasn't room for both brood and honey.  Most of what I could find out about combining hives advised dequeening one of the hives first.  Jeremy Rose says in his book that this is not necessary.  The thinking in favor of dequeening is that when one doesn't, one of the queens will be killed by the other or by the workers and it may not be the one you want to be removed.  Typically, one wants to keep the younger queen.  Also, if the queens fight, both may be injured or die and you would be left with no queen.  I did some online research and found little about not dequeening.  One paper from The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture found no difference in queen survival and mating between dequeening and not dequeening.  However, they cite other articles that show a 33% loss when not dequeening.  I posted the question on the Santa Cruz Beekeepers Guild group, but no one replied.  In any case, as you will see, the issue is moot.
I had decided to remove the queen from the nuc, mainly because I thought it would be easier to find her since there are only five medium frames.  Also, this queen is likely to be the original queen I got from Jeremy and therefore the older.  Here's how it went.

Dessicated thymol gel

Super ready for frames

First I opened the new hive.  I took out the Apiguard tray.  It had been in for over a week.  All, or at least most of the thymol should have been gone.  But, no.  The majority of it was left and dried out.  Instead of leaving it in, I just tossed it.  Then I had to run to the shed to get the four deep frames to fill in the gap I had made when first putting in the Apiguard.  I put the frames in, then placed a sheet of newspaper over the box and made 4 slits in it with my hive tool.  I put on a medium box with five frames in and room for five more.  One by one, I removed the frames from the nuc.  I looked carefully for the queen, ready to grab her and put her into a glass I had handy.  No queen on the first frame, and it was placed in the super.  The same with the next, the one after, the one after that and, finally, the same with the last.  No queen!  At least, no queen seen.  I figure she's in there and I had just inadvertently used the no dequeening method.  After all the frames were in, I put the Vivaldi top on and then the lid.  The bees from the nuc have no exit and will have to chew through the newspaper.  Since this takes a few days, I'll wait a week and then inspect.  As the bees chew through the newspaper, I figure I'll see bits of it on the ground in front of the hive.  We'll have to wait and see how the no dequeening method works.

Old hive with united super

Returning foragers were returning to the nuc only to find their home gone.  I hope they eventually find their way safely into some hive.
Next, I moved my attention to the old hive.  I wanted to see how the honey crop was coming and to remove the drone frame and replace it with a regular frame.

Drone frame with drone hatching

There was essentially no honey in the supers.  The top brood box was heavy with honey, but I didn't look at individual frames.  I took out the drone frame and put in a regular frame.  The drone frame was not full of comb and there was only some capped drone cells.  I did see some drones hatching.  I then looked at several frames trying, unsuccessfully, to spot the queen.  There was healthy brood and larvae, but no queen seen.  I put the old hive back together.  It doesn't look like there will be a honey harvest this fall.
On to Olea's hive, and finally, some good news.  I saw capped brood, small and large larvae and eggs.  I didn't see the queen (of course), but with eggs I know the hive is queenright.  The population is small, there is no honey other than on the edge of the brood and I know there are mites, probably a good number.  I don't expect this colony to survive, but if it does, I will requeen it with one of Honey Bee Genetics' queens.  If it doesn't, I'll consider buying a package or maybe splitting my old hive.
I had placed the drone frame on top of the old hive while I worked on the others.  There was nectar in some of the cells.  The bees began to gather, eventually forming a small cloud. After they had eaten all the nectar/honey, I took the frame onto the deck and checked the drone pupae.  There were about 100 capped drone cells and I examined 27.  Two had mites (two mites on each).  I don't know how to interpret this data, but I think it's ok.  I'll be doing sugar shake counts in the near future.

Wax moth damaged comb

Wax moth frass

I still had the old frame that I got from Kathy Niven last year sitting in the shed.  I wanted to take a look at it today.  It had been resting on the box I got my package in last year.  When I picked it up, I was shocked to see a heavy infestation of wax moths.  There was a pile of frass on the box as well as several larvae.  The larvae quickly headed away from the light crawling into the cracks of the box or elsewhere.  The comb also had larvae on it as well as some sort of yellowish coating.  I left the frame outside.  I think I'll add it to my wax collection that I will eventually melt and purify.