What did I do wrong?

[RaytownDave]

I got a call from a distraught employee of a local factory saying that she had a swarm of bees in her tree. I went out to find that the swarm had settled nicely in a knot hole in a tree. So I rigged up a nice little bee vac. (Making sure it wasn't so strong it wouldn't hurt the bees.) I sucken as many up as I could and brought them home. (Of course, I never did get the queen, just a pound or so of bees.) I put them into a hive body above an existing hive with news paper in between (hoping to beef up what I have). I didn't provide an exit hole but sprayed the bees down nicely with sugar water before closing them up. That was last night. I checked tonight and all new bees are dead. So, I'm looking for what I did wrong. Was it leaving them with out an exit? If so would they have stayed in the hive body without a queen? I'm feeling pretty bad about executing such useful creatures.

Dave

[Jim Calhoun]

To me it soundsd like either suffication, they may have overheated or you may have grossly oversprayed them and drown them.
How hot was the day they died? Is the hive shaded? How air tight do you consider you hive to be?
Could there have been some contaminent in your bee vac?

[honeyman46408]

""sprayed the bees down nicely with sugar water before closing them up.""

WHY??

[tecumseh]

hot weather + sprayed down with suger water +confined with no source of water = certain death

each variable of the equation reinforces the outcome..

[Michael Bush]

I've seen a lot of sticky dead bees. Overheating will put them in this state because when they overheat they regurgitate the honey in their stomachs. I'd put them in the top box over the newspaper and prop the lid open so they can fly. Bees should always be able to ventilate and fly.

[RaytownDave]

The day was in the 80s but I'm not thinking heat got them. I'd be more willing to say it was the lack of water... I won't be making the same mistake again...

Will a swarm with no queen stay in a box if I leave them an entry hole?

Dave

[Michael Bush]

>Will a swarm with no queen stay in a box if I leave them an entry hole?

Doubtful. They will go looking for their queen.

[carbide]

It would be best to put a double screen on top of the hive and then prop the lid open on top of that. This way the bees can have some ventilation and they still can't get out of the box.