Post swarm, clipped queen

[JonnyPicklechin]

Sunday I had quite a few capped cells in a hive but completely sure Ive got all the bees. Weather has been fine. Couldn't find the clipped marked queen so assumed thwarted swarm attempt, return of bees, loss of clipped queen.

I decided however to cut my losses and split the hive into two, distributing frames of BIAS and stores as well as bee mass evenly. I left one hive on original stand and the second across the apiary. I was careful to leave only one marked QC on each. I realise i'll get a lot more bees coming back to the original site.

I was going to go back and tear down any new cells on Thursday. Also check for eggs just in case she made it back though presumably they'd have had another go if she had?

Anyone have any comments on this manoeuvre ?

 

[Finman]

In such case you should do an artificial swarm. Clipped queen gives to you more time to react to swarming fever.

You should make the swarm part into foundation box, where you put one brood frame with one queen cell, 2 food frames and the rest foundations. That box into the old hive place. Then move the old hive 10 feet ( 3 m) away so that you can join the two hiveparts together.

If you find the old queen, put it into the foundation box.

The old hive part has still swarming fever, and try to do to it something, that you do not loose the cast.

 

[pargyle]

Sunday I had quite a few capped cells in a hive but completely sure Ive got all the bees. Weather has been fine. Couldn't find the clipped marked queen so assumed thwarted swarm attempt, return of bees, loss of clipped queen.

I decided however to cut my losses and split the hive into two, distributing frames of BIAS and stores as well as bee mass evenly. I left one hive on original stand and the second across the apiary. I was careful to leave only one marked QC on each. I realise i'll get a lot more bees coming back to the original site.

I was going to go back and tear down any new cells on Thursday. Also check for eggs just in case she made it back though presumably they'd have had another go if she had?

Anyone have any comments on this manoeuvre ?

Effectively what you have done is a walk away split but the risk is that your original queen has found her way back into the original colony and is not lost ., and as Finman says the swarming instinct is still there and there may be a cast swarm. even if the queen is lost they could swarm on a virgin.

Have you read Wally Shaw ....

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...89/1586083624282/wbka-booklet-english-PDF.pdf