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We had a queenless hive that was quite weak so we got a new queen hoping to save the hive. We put the few bees that was left in a nuc with the new caged queen thinking the smaller space would help matters but apparently it didn't! A week later we opened the hive and the queen was gone and only a handful of bees remained.
A couple of days ago I noticed some bee activity around this stone wall we have by the tool shed. I noticed it again today and showed it to DH and he says that's where our queen probably went!
This wall is a mortared stone wall about 8' tall filled with some dirt over a lot of discards where we cleaned out the garage (junk). About 2' from the bottom where the wall meets the tool shed there's an open space about 6" wide and this is where the bees are going in and out.
The question is; is there any way to entice this queen out of there maybe into a nuc? We have a feeling the answer is no but had to ask anyway. We'd really like to capture these bees but don't want to tear out the wall. This is probably about 200' from where the other hive is.
the short answer is no. you can probably trap out many of the bees, but you won't get the queen to leave her hive. best thing to do, in my opinion, is to cut them out of there and re-hive them. use a queen excluder between the hive body and bottom board until they are settled in their home again. rubber band the brood into the frames.
search the hive removal section for info on cutouts.