What happened to this swarm?

[Konrad]

As I said before, I got hold of a swarm what moved into a old hive body.

But this is new news...
only half of the swarm, the other half moved into the sheds wall 2 feet away.

After checking the ones in the box after one week and not finding no eggs and queen, I bought one for them and there is eggs now and everything is fine.

The ones living in the wall, it looks like they have a queen, allot of pollen is being hauled in.

Now here is the question, what did happened?
Why did not all the bees stay together?

I made a makeshift box with some old and new frames, made a hole on the lower side and mounted it onto the wall, so the bees have to go thrue the box to get out!

Will I capture the queen this way???

I really like the calm behavior of the bees, it seems a mix of race, could be Italian, carniolans mix?

Konrad

[Michael Bush]

Did they move in on their own or did you shake them into the box?

Either way they somehow got their signals mixed up. Swarms are quite chaotic. I've seen swarms with seven or eight virgin queens in them sometimes. I don't think they all came from the same hive. You got the opposite where one swarm ended up with the queen and the other didn't.

[Konrad]

Thank you Michael!

They went in on there own.
The owner of the shed said, he seen a large swarm forming, some went into the hive body, the rest into the wall.

Can it be, that I couldn't spot the virgin queen in the hive?
How would it have turned out, if I left them and not give them a queen?

All I know is, the new queen I introduced is still there and easy to spot, she is
allot lighter in color, [Italian] then the rest of the bees.

The bees in the wall have exactly the same color.

Konrad

[Michael Bush]

It's very possible they both had a queen and one was not mated yet. It will take a couple of weeks for a swarm with a virgin queen to have eggs.

[Konrad]

Thank you Michael!

What are the chances, getting the queen out of the wall?

Konrad

[Michael Bush]

>What are the chances, getting the queen out of the wall?

It depends on if you tear the siding off the wall. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Michael

[Konrad]

Thank you Michael!

before I take the wall appart, I'm trying to lure them into the box, they are already working on 3 frames, hopefully the queen goes in and lay eggs?
Konrad

[Michael Bush]

Who knows? I wouldn't bet the farm on it. But it's fun to try.

[Konrad]

Thank you Michael!

Ya.....you're probably right!
The bees are concentrated for the brood in the wall....it makes sense, if I was a bee, I stay put!
I put a cone, window screen mesh from the hole into the box, in such a way, that some may still go back, but hoping more bees stay in the box?
Also, I put some mothballs on the bottom of the wall, where the wood is rotten and some bees hang out, hopefully it will drive them up into the box.
How about putting a frame of brood in the box?...more bees in the box, then what?

Yes, it's fun to experiment!

Konrad