Unmarked wing clipped - just appeared!

[nexstarneil]

Having tidied the hive up a week ago and hoping for a swarmless Easter the bees were definitely swarming at 14:45 today. I went straight down and found a few workers and drones clustering on the lawn about 2m from the hive.

I soon realized they were round a Queen but shock and horror it was an UNMARKED & WING CLIPPED Q. Our marked and clipped Q was still in the hive when I looked last Sunday and the mark looked just like it does on the avatar (left) ...... so who is this?? How did she get there? I've put her in a collection box for now and a lot of the aerial bees are making their way in there about 4m from the hive. No idea what's going on. Help!

 

[enrico]

Just be grateful, ....... Maybe she was a flying queen who had a close call with a bird!
E

 

[nexstarneil]

It's now 18:15 and this is what I've got. The mystery Queen is in there somewhere. I don't know how many bees there are but it doesn't look like a full swarm. I don't have anything to put them in so any suggestions what to do with her/them. My only hive about 4 meters away has settled down now.

 

[Jeff Buzz]

I would take a guess that she is your queen

 

[enrico]

It's got to be your queen, I would find the queen in the swarm, get rid of her and let the bees return to the hive they came from, if you have no kit you don't really have a choice. At least that's what I would do!
E

 

[nexstarneil]

I would take a guess that she is your queen

Thanks. I would have thought the same had I not seen mine last week with the bold red mark she's had since last June (the red in the box in the pic is a bit of card). I handled this mystery Queen earlier and she is totally unmarked but left wing clipped.

Main thing now is what to do with these bees please? Many thanks

 

[Amari]

Spray them with air freshener and add them to your colony?

 

[itma]

1/ You need to have some pare kit - particularly to have the capability to do an artificial swarm as swarm control on your own colony. Some sort of really basic hive, and foundation-filled frames to suit, at minimum.

2/ Do you have a super ready for your hive? You could use that for the moment. Put a couple of stones under one side for an entrance. A bit of board, or a sheet of plastic (opened out binbag?) held in place with some bricks will make a temporary roof. They shouldn't need feeding for a couple of days.

3/ If you don't want them, call your Association Secretary or swarm-collection-coordinator. I'm sure someone will want them.

4/ Even a badly-clipped Q shouldn't be able to go very far at all, so, despite what you say, I'd still just have a check inside your own hive, looking for Queen Cells. You may have had a supercedure situation (hence 2 Qs) in there that you were unaware of.

 

[nexstarneil]

Thanks everyone. I'd feel happier understanding what's going on if it had been the known marked Queen. I'll rig up something temporary and look again tomorrow.

 

[pargyle]

Thanks everyone. I'd feel happier understanding what's going on if it had been the known marked Queen. I'll rig up something temporary and look again tomorrow.

A cardboard box with a small hole for an entrance and a piece of plywood with a brick on it for a lid will get you through a couple of days - yes they'll start building comb from under the lid but it buys you a bit of time to either beg, borrow, buy or make something more permanent.

I hate to say it but a Top bar hive will only take a couple of hours to knock together even with the most basic tools and that will get you at least to the end of the season ... could be fun as well. It's only a small swarm so a Top bar would need dummying down until they start getting underway,

Plenty of step by step plans on the internet and it needn't cost a fortune.

Good luck .. if they are not yours then I wouldn't consider combining them with your colony until you know that they are healthy ... and you won't know that until after you've had them in a box for a week or two and the queen is laying.

 

[MuswellMetro]

just a super of foundation or 50% comb proped up on A STONE ,or two bits of wood with a board or fertilser sack for the roof works as an emegency hive for such a small colony

 

[Dishmop]

just a super of foundation or 50% comb proped up on A STONE ,or two bits of wood with a board or fertilser sack for the roof works as an emegency hive for such a small colony

A Blue Peter flag.. and sign for "Cup Full of Bees"

 

[nexstarneil]

I found the mystery Q. Resident Q not seen yesterday but last week had red spot - are these two the same? Marked Q photo is from July 2013 and looked much the same last Sunday when I inspected the hive. Unmarked Q from today (clearly also left wing clipped) . The black bands look wider on unmarked Q towards the thorax. But, if they are different does anyone want a Queen?

 

[curry756]

I found the mystery Q. Resident Q not seen yesterday but last week had red spot - are these two the same? Marked Q photo is from July 2013 unmarked Q from today (clearly also left wing clipped) . If they are different does anyone want a Queen?

I need a new queen - mine is failing. Are you being serious? as I am defo interested.

 

[Sean.]

The queen on the right is very hairy, I would say she is very young. When compared with the one on the left.

 

[beeno]

Hi nexstarneil.
In all proability it is your queen. It is not uncommon for markings to come off, particularly since she has probably been bullied by the swarm bees into trying to fly. She looks a bit worse for wear I would say and the camera does lie! As itma, have a good look in your hive tomorrow. Let us know what you find.

 

[Nige.Coll]

Hi nexstarneil.
In all proability it is your queen. It is not uncommon for markings to come off, particularly since she has probably been bullied by the swarm bees into trying to fly. She looks a bit worse for wear I would say and the camera does lie! As itma, have a good look in your hive tomorrow. Let us know what you find.

the red dot has almost been removed from mine.