Queen Absconds

[shrekfeet]

I was introducing a swarm collected last night to a hive this morning. All was goping to plan, bees progressing up slope into hive and I could clearly see the queen. She pottered around on the slope, enjoying the attention of her ladies. As she reached the top edge of the huddle of bees on the towel I thought she was going to venture inside but instead she took to the wing and flew away, leaving the swarm behind. 80% are in the hive, the rest on the front and the towel slope. What happens now?

 

[shrekfeet]

they are all in the hive though but I'm not sure the queen will be. Will the swarm go off an look for her? Is she likely to return? Do I need to find a replacement queen to make the swarm viable?

 

[plumberman]

There is a fairly good chance that she will return, and may even have done so by now. You don't have much choice but to wait and see what happens.

 

[shrekfeet]

how long do I leave it before I check for her in the hive. If she's not there, what do I do next (assuming swarm remains)

 

[plumberman]

I think essentially if they stay then there is a queen present and therefore you don't need to do anything. Not an impossibility that there is more than one queen present - if this is a prime swarm and swarming was delayed by the weather, there could also be a virgin queen present.

The bees will let you know the situation....

 

[Midland Beek]

I would expect the swarm to have contained more than one queen, and that there is one in the hive ... a virgin queen.