Clustering under pallet!!

[drmanhadan]

My bees have began to cluster underneath the box inside of the planks of the pallet it is sitting on. I just got the bees as a cutout from yesterday, and putting them in the box got a bit messy. A ton of bees were on the grass around it during the transfer. They keep clustering around the pallet but some are going in. Maybe the queen is under inside the pallet? Maybe the pheromone from all the bees on the grass was strong enough to indicate a false hive? I attempted to stop them from gathering by stuffing newspaper in SOME of the nooks and crannies, but they continue to gather. I also tried to scoop them but they fly away before I can put them anywhere! What should I do?? How do I get them back, especially if the queen is among the cluster??

Thanks,
and happy beeking!

http://s1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii611/DanBeeMan/
(it's the first three pictures)

[Keefis]

It doesn't look like anything to be worried about to me. Approximately how many bees did you put in the hive.? Are there a bunch under the pallet that the pictures don't show?
They could be just trying to inspect and remove the paper. It doesn't look like bearding since it is so few bees.

[drmanhadan]

I'd say there were a little over 2000 and a sixth of them are clustered under the pallet... hopefully those numbers are correct. It's hard to judge the number of bees from a cutout, whereas a swarm can be described as a basketball or baseball... but, I put the paper there to help deter them from building comb under there, but they keep finding spaces to cluster? is there something I can spray underneath that will only deter them from THAT location? I don't want to spray away my colony...

[Keefis]

Well a lot of beekeepers use lemongrass oil as an attractant. You'll have to ask someone how much. I don't know whether or not you can do it when they are in the hive already..
As far as spraying something under the hive..I wouldn't . like you said they could leave.
Possibly you could look at rearranging the bottom bricks and pallet under the hive or replace them.
So 5/6 of the bees are inside, thats good.
you got them from a cutout.? Like out of a building? If there is honey dripping from cut combs they could be retrieving that.

[drmanhadan]

I sprayed them with a little water and some water on the newspaper to make it hard for them to cling on and to keep them busy for a bit. Should I take out the newspaper, or just wait a while and see if they leave naturally?