mating or just really small swarm?

[duck]

heres a interesting deal from my place in west texas.  This small swarm showed up, mostly a ton of drones a couple days ago, some workers and a queen.  These hives are all buckfast.  I know ahb mostly look like tiger stripes right?  The bees would come and waggle, and then the swarm got up and moved over a few hives under a 2x12.  I dont think its mating.  I am thinking swarm.  It looks like she is a mated queen as well.  There are plenty of caves around the area and some structures.  Not alot of trees.  Dont think they would survive the winter If I would try to hive them.







Then they moved over a few hives..







They are still there.. its been getting down into the 40's, they are kinda just hanging out.  So.. what to do, leave them alone? try to put them in a box?

[BlueBee]

Wow, THAT is a small swarm/group/quorum!  Never seen a swarm that small; but I have seen colonies dwindle down to about that size and THEN abscond.  I can’t imagine they will survive; just not enough bees to service the queen IMO.  I guess you don’t have any spare frames of brood to start a new nuc?  If your new queen is mated and has a frame or two of support, maybe you could get in a brood cycle or two before winter hits down there. 

[Finski]

I am thinking swarm.  It looks like she is a mated queen as well.  There are plenty of caves around the area and some structures. 

When a colony is tiny, and small comb is full of eggs, often the queen swarm with small bee group.
Small mating nucs do so if you not take the queen away in time.

[Finski]

They are still there.. its been getting down into the 40's, they are kinda just hanging out.  So.. what to do, leave them alone? try to put them in a box?

It is just a queen from unknown origin.
If you bye a good queen from known origin, that is a good idea.

[Finski]

I guess you don’t have any spare frames of brood to start a new nuc? 

October is not a good time to make nucs.

[duck]

im headed out there this weekend again and ill just bring em back.  It was in the upper 80s here in SE Texas this weekend and we have a good flow going now.  I am still pickup up swarms and plenty of rotten trees with hives people are cutting down.  I have two double deep hives that are queen less.  Ill just give one of the hives her and then combine them all and a few frames of brood from another.  Should be a booming hive for about two weeks then they should slow down..

[Finski]

.
OK, but it is better to bye a good queen than arrange a lotto game

[duck]

Pretty sure she is buckfast. Came from the 74 hives I requeened last year. No beeks for 15 miles.  I've won the lotto!

[Finski]

Pretty sure she is buckfast. Came from the 74 hives I requeened last year. No beeks for 15 miles.  I've won the lotto!

Well! You have 74 hives. You need not advices. I thought that you are those famous 2 hive owners. I hate 2 hive owners because they are so smart.
But more I am afraid of top bar gang. Awfull. They are like Jesus Christ himself

[duck]

the point being that the hives I requeened had queens of unknown origin..  I replaced them all with buckfast and Im pretty sure that one of the hives kicked out a queen and some drones.. not to many others.  Knowing this, its safe to say she is from the buckfast stock that I replaced the original unknown queens with.. wouldnt you think so?

[Finski]

.
I think that the queen had idea to be there. If it want return to its hive, it goes to some hive and it will be killed in wrong place.


I met an interesting case last summer.

I got a swarm and it went to 15 m high pine top. I made 1,5 days work to get swarm down by cutting branches. It fell down gradually and changed place.

Finally on third morning there was an apple size swarm in the tree. It had moved to next tree. I sprayed it with water and caught the bees and the queen.

I took a queen and I put it into one mating nuc. The queen escaped and fled directly to its swarm.

What I learned?

- when swarm change the place the queen locate the scenery, where  its swarm is. The queen knows exactly the place, where to go.
- That is why the swarm return to same twig again and again.
- then it change the place and acts again in same way.