curious situation

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pipsbees

New Bee
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Jul 4, 2011
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Location
ireland
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One hive has now come out and gone back in four times now over a period of a week...is this queen mating or orientation?
Should I be concerned they will swarm?
 
As mine appear to have done this twice in two days (gawd knows what they are up to today) I'm looking forward to the replies on this.
 
I would go through them very thoroughly as in my experience they are about to do something.....

Thorough - gently brush or shake (not bang) bees off comb so that you can check really closely for hard to see QC's

BTW - best post general inquiries like this on the main beekeeping forum.
 
Is the Queen clipped?

This could explain the bees returning to the hive.

Is the Queen still present and is she marked?

If she is not present then she may of been clipped and is now lost but you still have the bees.

I am only guessing the above, but again if you find Queen cells and you have a very strong now Queenless colony it may be worth doing an artificial swarm, the bees may have a strong swarming instinct and you may lose them with the first hatched Queen.

Only food for thought for your next inspection which should be ASAP.

I agree with Plumberman, shake or brush off the bees and check for Queen cells.
 
very strong now Queenless colony it may be worth doing an artificial swarm,

Not quite sure how you do that without a queen! Please can you explain?
 

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