Guilfordbeekeepers.org

Hived another swarm yesterday (4/16/19) at Elam Gardens. This makes two in eight days! It was wrapped around the limb of a peach tree and was the size of a thick loaf of bread.

Curiously, there is another "swarm" that's been hanging under the screened bottom board of my tallest hive. I'm assuming it's a swarm because they are clustered tightly, are covering the entire screened bottom board and have begun drawing comb. They only cluster more tightly when smoked. This is the second hive to do this since late March. What's going on here?

Most likely the queen got lost coming back from her mating flight and wound up on the bottom. They need to be removed and put in a nuc or hive.

Thanks, Wally! I'm going to try to move them into a hive this morning. If the comb they've built contains eggs/larvae I will try and band it to an open frame. If no eggs are present, I will let them have the drawn comb in the new hive and save what they've built to melt. Is that what you would do? WWWD...What would Wally do...

That's about what I would plan. Of course, when in a bee activity, I am always ready to change plans instantly when the circumstances require it.