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Author Topic: well this was weird  (Read 2203 times)

Offline beedad

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well this was weird
« on: June 05, 2009, 08:30:00 pm »
ok so its a two deep land that was over wintered and doing great.  week and a half ago there was piping, so i took some brood and the queen, and put them in a nuc in an out yard.  four days ago i went through the hive and found an open supercedure cell but no new brood.  no eggs no larva.  couldnt find the queen but i think she was in there.  so today my friend where the hive is called me and said that they swarmed out, clustered, then they went back to the hive.  i stopped by after work today and theres a nice full hive of bees and some girls still fanning out front.  not ventilating, marking their new home.  so near as i can tell there was just one queen, they swarmed, got some fresh air, and went back home.  soooo, what gives?  why would they swarm with just one queen and then go back home?
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Offline Vibe

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Re: well this was weird
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2009, 08:32:52 pm »
Mating flight of the virgin queen?
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Offline beedad

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Re: well this was weird
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2009, 08:57:41 pm »
thought about that but thousands of bees left the hive.  and they clustered.  mating flight should just be the queen as far as i know.
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Offline iddee

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Re: well this was weird
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2009, 09:33:35 pm »
My guess is two or more queens and they will swarm again tomorrow with a virgin queen.
Then the other new queen will begin laying in a few more days.
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"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

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Offline fermentedhiker

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Re: well this was weird
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2009, 11:53:25 pm »
stop by tomorrow and borrow a nuc if can get to it before they go and if you don't have anything to put them in.
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Offline beedad

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Re: well this was weird
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2009, 11:45:03 am »
thing is they swarmed out, then went back.  and when i got there they were going about business as normal.
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Offline beedad

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Re: well this was weird
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2009, 12:37:21 pm »
i was just reading in "the hive and the honeybee" that during supercedure the bees will swarm out with the virgin queen during her mating flight.  so im wondering if thats what happened and then they went back because there was only one queen, as i had already taken the queen mother out a week or so prior. thats what my wifes first instinct was that happened and shes pretty intuitive about the bees(i think its a girl thing).  so what ya all think?
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Offline iddee

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Re: well this was weird
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2009, 01:19:37 pm »
>>>>so today my friend where the hive is called me and said that they swarmed out, clustered, then they went back to the hive.<<<<

Did the hive and the honeybee say they clustered, then went back in?

I stand by my first post. Have a box ready for the swarm.
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"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*
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