bees in bait box query?

[Tdod]

Hi all I am a little confused so would appreciate some experienced opinion.
I missed a queen cell 2 weeks ago and they swarmed and went in my bait box I put up in my apple tree so was pleased I never lost them, I hived them the next day and moved them to out apiary they are doing fine.
my issue is that I put the bait hive back in the tree and and later that day had a look and there are about 200ish bees living in there I have looked last weekend and today and I can not see a queen , no eggs so are these some stragglers from the prime swarm that have took up residence, they are quite defensive more so than my other colonies so if they are queenless how do I get them out?? Or what should I do As they are so few.
not sure what to do opinions please

 

[Bob Bee]

From your post it appears you 'hived' them on the original site and then moved them to an out apiary. Unless you waited unttill nightfall and closed them in before moving, the chances are these bees are the many that were left behind, or have I got the wrong end of the stick. Its not at all clear exactly what you did.

 

[oliver90owner]

Very clear apart from the all important timing and location. When in the day were they hived and how far were they moved? Foragers left behind or foragers returned or plain stragglers lost at transfer, but no idea which, from the information supplied.

Re what to do with a couple hundred bees - I am sure you can sort that out. They are not really a viable colony in that sized box, are they?

A simple suggestions for the future. First consider when is the best time to transfer bees from one box to another, where you carry out that manipulation and perhaps how far you move them.

U

 

[Tdod]

Many thanks , I think they are bees that got left behind the more I think about it.
I hived them at around 6pm and then shut them up when it went dark and moved them the next day thats when I put the bait box back in the tree so not sure where the bees were all night they seemed to appear the next day.
still not sure how to get them out of the bait box shall I just dump them out and remove the bait box for a couple of days before putting it back?

thanks again

 

[enrico]

Take it to your new hive location, put an empty super with no frames on top and a bee escape board underneath, bang them onto the board and they will mingle with those downstairs., hopefully they won't return to the bait box site.
E