[Batman]

Why is it, just when you think you're in control of them, cause they are doing just what you want them to do, they have a way of letting you know that your control over them is an illusion? I bumped a nuc up to a 10 frame hive got as many bees as I could out of the old nuc then put it on it's side in front of the new hive. I just went to grab my nuc to use for another project and there was like 20 to 25 bees in there. No big deal, right? Cept, why is there a queen sitting there kicking it with them??? Opened the 10 frame hive...2 capped queen cells....guess either the old queen was not on the frames when I moved them or she didnt let go when the nuc dumped and skaken. Well, looks like we'll just be 1 more closer to 50 hives.

Craig

 

[D Coates]

I've been concerned about that happening to me so I make sure to sweep everything out of a nuc. Bummer though.

 

[NasalSponge]

Who said the queen is never on the outside frames...or in this case the wall??

 

[Batman]

Well, I made the best of the situation at hand. Since the current hive already had capped cells, I built a queen cage to hold her, and took a couple of frames of bees and brood and put her in there. I'll let her out in a week or so.
I was actually surprised when I accidentally opened a hive that I put a queen in a cage and found that not only had they let her out in a week, but they completely consumed every bit of the candy. Man I could have used that cage last night when doing and extraction. I found the queen and a couple of queen cells in the house and did a quick split with a queen cell, I put a frame of brood in there to help jump start that split. I took the queen and put her in the hive and I guess I didn't put enough bees in the hive, cause they were all up on the wall and out of the hive today when I checked on them. I added a couple of frames of brood to the hive body and placed it back up by them. I'll check on them in a couple of days to see if they did what has happned in the past...moved right on in on top of the brood and made a new home. There were 7 combs in there and they were 7 ft. long, by about 5 in. wide. Kinda cool...cept them leaving the hive for the now empty wall.

C2

 

[sqkcrk]

Who said the queen is never on the outside frames...or in this case the wall??

Not me, that's for sure. the last queen I actively looked for was on the 19th frame on the side facing the feeder. It was like she was moving away from me as I removed the next frame.

And unless someone assumes i have a 19 frame super or tbh w/ frames in it, I don't. This was a two story hive, two deeps. W/ a feeder against the far wall in the bottom box.

ps: love the thread title.

 

[Michael Bush]

I've pulled a miller feeder and come back later to see bees all clustered on it and, after examination, discovered the queen was on the feeder...

Also done the same with inner covers etc... they queen MIGHT be anywhere, but she usually is in the brood nest.

 

[sqkcrk]

In the old debate about whether bees can hear, it isn't that they can't hear, it's that they don't listen.

Thanks, Batman. You have helped settle a great disagreement.

The books say she will be in the brood nest. But as Michael points out it ain't necassarily so. So apparently the bees don't read the owners manuals. Which doesn't mean they can't read or write. Otherwise, who filled out those crossword puzzles that I found filled out when I took the newspapaers off the hives after feeding dry sugar?