Does this look like I captured the queen? I found a swarm in my back yard
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Either that, or she's on the outside of the box... 
Kind of hard to tell...How many bees in the box and how did you get them there? Swarm shake? Have they all gone into the box? How big is the entrance on the box and how long have they been like that? Was this picture taken 3 minutes into the process or 30???
I probably would have left the lid partially open to speed up the process.
Kind of hard to tell...How many bees in the box and how did you get them there? Swarm shake? Have they all gone into the box? How big is the entrance on the box and how long have they been like that? Was this picture taken 3 minutes into the process or 30???
I probably would have left the lid partially open to speed up the process.
The entrance is 1" but I have one of the rotating entrance reducers. I took 3 of the 5 frames out, deep, spayed the last 2 with sugar water and shook the ball into the box. However part of the ball fell 2 feet from the NUC box. They all trailed over and covered the entrance area, around 3 lbs. of bees. I went back out and opened the lid around 1" and rotated the reducer to full open. Oh yeah I sprayed the other 3 frames with sugar water (all plastic foundation) after I shook the main ball in. I guess I will check a couple more times then again in the morning as it is now dark and they are still outside the NUC.
If they're outside the Nuc, I'd say so is the queen...Typically, if the queen is in the Nuc and you crack the lid, you will have quite a few bees vigorously fanning on the edge with the rest of the bees literally marching into the box at a noticeable pace...such that 95+ percent of the bees are in the box with 15 minutes or so....
This is s swarm that I shook a couple weeks ago, this is within minutes of placing the Nuc on the ground after the shake. Notice the fanning and movement towards the Nuc.
http://s1311.photobucket.com/user/jeffrobert41183/media/Bees/CC4EDCC7-91F1-4EB3-AA2F-1ED9BFE8B846_zpsovs8gogv.mp4.html
If they've stayed, as pictured without a noticalbe change, my guess is she's in the cluster on the outside of the Nuc.
This is s swarm that I shook a couple weeks ago, this is within minutes of placing the Nuc on the ground after the shake. Notice the fanning and movement towards the Nuc.
http://s1311.photobucket.com/user/jeffrobert41183/media/Bees/CC4EDCC7-91F1-4EB3-AA2F-1ED9BFE8B846_zpsovs8gogv.mp4.html
If they've stayed, as pictured without a noticalbe change, my guess is she's in the cluster on the outside of the Nuc.
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Probably have her. As my bee mentor says, "Let the bees tell you where the queen is." One suggestion for next time is to do transfers on a sheet or plywood. It cuts dowtn on the confusion, you can see the bees, and it's easier to spot the queen.
My recent swarm did this. They sat on the back of the box for a good 20 minutes, but there were bees at the front fanning, so I assumed she was in there. Could you see any marching into the hive? Leaving the top cracked is a good idea, and if you get really desperate, just slide the top back a little and nicely scoop them up the side and into the box, you'll eventually get her.
At 8PM last night they were still on the outside, so this morning I set up a med. super with the frames from my Dec. harvest, empty comb frames, as a new med. brood chamber with honey I put on the middle 3 and swept the exterior cluster into the hive setup. Hopefully they will like this better, I have 3 hives that have 3 med. super brood chambers and 2 hives with 2 deeps. I will check once I get home after work to see if they stay. If so I will move the hive to where my other hives are after dark. I have my fingers crossed.
Thank you all for your inputs.
Mike
Thank you all for your inputs.
Mike
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