Hi Thomaj welcome to the forum.

Ok well lets get right into your questions then:

Its normally the old queen that stays behind but it has been known for the old queen to leave also. However sometimes the new and old queen could fight to the death leaving the strongest. Sometimes a new queen will hang around in the hive with the old queen and once the new (or virgin) queen has been mated the old queen will die naturally.

At around day 20-24 the new queen (virgin) will make her nuptual flights. So to answer your question…it depends

Not normally if the old queen is left she is probably still pretty strong. The workers themselves know if she is weak and will superseed her if they feel this to be the case.

If the old queen leaves with a swarm then it doesnt really matter if she is passed it or not unless you can capture the swarm again but probably she is strong or the workers wouldnt follow her.

I dont see a mouseguard being a huge problem for queens but may be a contributing factor in making a hive swarm. Really you should take the mnouseguard off in Spring which is when most swarming happens anyway. Mouseguards are for Winter.

Hope that helps

Cripes really? Could you try logging out for me and then back in with your bobh details and see what account you are in? Also if you could have a look on the main site and see if you are logged into your normal account. Very strange behaviour though and worrying to be honest.

If you still have problems please email me your password using the contact form or private messaging system and I will have a look on my side.

To answer your bee school question it is probably right but I bet not always the case. Supercedure could be done in a hurry and so they use an existing larvae in the main brood area of the frame. I guess they have more time to prepare to swarm and so build a cell off the main area.