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Author Topic: Looks like a swarm moving into a queenless hive?  (Read 2052 times)

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Offline Yankee11

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Looks like a swarm moving into a queenless hive?
« on: May 25, 2015, 10:28:31 pm »
Does this look like a swarm moving into a queenless hive.All the other hives looked normal and this one looked like this. Almost all bees looked like they
were going into hive and fanning at entrance.

Don't think it was orientation flights. I've seen bunches of those. Will a swarm move into a hive like this?
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Offline Jen

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Re: Looks like a swarm moving into a queenless hive?
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2015, 11:03:09 pm »
Hiya Yankee  :)  Earlier this spring I sent home a hived swarm with one of my beek buddies. Two weeks later he came by again and picked up another hived swarm. We were pretty certain the queen went home with the first swarm, but the second swarm definately had the queen. The next week he emailed and said that he witnessed swarm 1 move in next door joining swarm 2.

So I posted that question and several here said 'Sure thing, happens all the time'

 ;)
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Offline Perry

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Re: Looks like a swarm moving into a queenless hive?
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2015, 06:33:33 am »
What's that saying about a gift horse? :)
Wait a few days and if you find eggs, it's a great day!
Sometimes stuff happens that just has no rational explanation (like the day my wife said "yes")  :laugh:
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Offline Ray

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Re: Looks like a swarm moving into a queenless hive?
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2015, 07:40:41 am »
The definition of beekeeping - "stuff happens that just has no rational explanation"  ;D
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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: Looks like a swarm moving into a queenless hive?
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2015, 09:09:36 am »
My wife, in her innocence of youth said yes twice!   Once when we got married, the other time we ended up with twins.. she claims to have learned her lesson and that it will never happen again............   :sad:

   I have opened a hive I knew was queenless, to combine them or add a queen etc, to find all but maybe ten bees GONE.. and one of the nearby nucs suddenly STUFFED with bees...  so I am quite certain they absconded and went where they knew they had a queen.  I have not been fortunate enough to get a picture yet..
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Offline Yankee11

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Re: Looks like a swarm moving into a queenless hive?
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2015, 09:43:39 am »
Lazy,

Here in AR that happens the other way around.
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