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recent split of mean bees swarmed... what next

2K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Ian 
#1 ·
I made the split about two weeks ago. I don't know if the queen ended up in the original hive or in this new one, which was placed about 15' away from the original. Today they swarmed and I caught it, and placed it elsewhere. At the time I was not sure were the swarm had come from. But my question in this post is about the hive were the swarm actually came from. What do I do next. Possibly there are a few queen cells about to hatch. Perhaps some already did... and there might be virgin queens fighting for their lifes and the reign of the hive. Or perhaps I will loose more bees in secondary swarms. How do I prevent that? Should I go and destroy all the queen cells I see, then wait for a few days (how many?) to make sure no virgin queen was left behind, ready to mate, and then put a nice nuc I have on top with the newspaper method? This hive (remember it's a recent split) is in two deep supers, but the top super was just starting to get drawn out. This queen makes mean bees I don't particularly care for, though they overwintered without any medication other that menthol and cords. Or should I just forget about this hive, let them do what they want to do, and use my nice nuc elsewhere...?
If I were to use the nuc here how and when could I put this nuc I have with a brand new queen already laying, without risking the nice queen?
Thanks,
Alejandro

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[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited May 18, 2003).]
 
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#2 ·
If you are going to manipulate a hive that is already swarming, the best thing to do is completely break it down into a bunch of nucs. It seems when a colony start, they will not quit. If they have swarmed already, I would leave the mother colony well alone, for your interuption may prevent the colony from requeening itself. It may continue swarming, but I'd say your best chance to keep the colony is to leave it alone for a few weeks.
If you are willing to work the hive during the swarming, you might as well work the hive to avoid swarming.

Ian
 
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