Trouble catching a queen

Nakedapiarist · Jun 8, 2015

I'm trying to get a queen out of a swarm I hived last week to hand her on to a friend at work and then reunite my now boosted hive with their original queen that I paid good money for and want to breed from.

There are eggs so I know she's good, she's also a bit quick. Opened the hive twice yesterday and found her both times ( she's bright orange which helps ) and tried to bring the crown of thorns down on top her so I had a chance of removing the other bees and and caging her up. I missed both times - first she was there, then she wasn't.

Any tips on catching her? I'm thinking take the frame away from the hive and hold it over an empty nuc box so at least she can't skip over to another comb.

enrico · Jun 8, 2015

Use a queen clip, I always keep one in my top pocket for emergencies. Just close it over her and any bees that get in the way!
E

dexter's shed · Jun 8, 2015

yup, I'll second that, used a queen clip on a swarm 2 days ago, easiest thing I've ever done

Nakedapiarist · Jun 8, 2015

These are the sort of bits of kit you find out about slightly too late! I might be able to improvise something similar though.

Out of curiosity, can I infer anything about her lineage from the colour?

Wish I'd kept the big swarm from the day before as well but I found a home for that one.

Nakedapiarist · Jun 9, 2015

Fingers! In the end i just picked her up, she's coming to work with me today

B+. · Jun 9, 2015

Nakedapiarist said:
Fingers! In the end i just picked her up, she's coming to work with me today

I read your post to late to suggest that. Its the way I do it. You can catch her by the wings or thorax but try not to grab the abdomen. That could do her serious harm.

You can't really infer anything beyond a general indication that Italians tend to be yellowish from her colour. She could be a Buckfast as the early Buckfast lines were based on Italian stock but they have been crossed with so many other races now that its not really possible to say anything more.
The closest you are going to be able to do is probably morphometric tests such as cubital index and discoidal shift (http://coloss.org/beebook/I/subspecies-ecotypes/3/1)