Would a swarm of honey bees start a nest in an apple tree without a Queen bee ?

Question

Man made hives setup in a field 350 yards away.

Answer 1

nope....  if they are swarmed, theres a queen...

  If ya wanna make a potential friend, see if you can find the bee keeper and tell him one of his hives has swarmed... he'll appreciate you.

Answer 2

There must always be a queen.  If the former queen died, then they pick a new one right away.  So there is a queen, unless you saw it in the very few seconds/minutes where they were picking a new one?