I hived a swarm about a week ago and checked in on them for the first time today. I saw very few bees; maybe enough to cover 3/4 of a medium frame. I did find the queen (happily) and I saw that she did lay a few eggs, but I figured that without a few more bees they'd never build up and would die out. So I swapped hive locations with a much stronger hive a few feet away. That, I think, turned out to be a HUGE mistake. When I checked up on the swarm hive tonight before dark I saw the queen being "balled" on top of the top cover. I didn't quite know what to do about that, so I just closed up the hive and walked away feeling pretty sad and stupid because I think she's dead because of me. Anyway, I swapped the hives back to their original locations to prevent further damage, though the worst of it is probably already done. I suppose there's a slim chance the swarm hive will be able to raise their own queen from one of the eggs, but it would seem to be a long shot if you do the math in terms of how long it will take to raise a queen and get her laying. Anyway, I'm passing my story along so other new beekeepers can potentially learn from my mistake--don't do what I did. Also, if the forum has any advice or can point out the fatal flaw in my location swap plan, I'd appreciate the tutelage. Thank you.
Who knows, it may all turn out fine. Perhaps she was not being balled, rather protected? Check back in a few days and see what is happening.
And if there is eggs, they should get a queen fine. Sure it sets them back a few weeks, but they can recover. Swarms (and packages) will sometimes supercede anyway, sometimes the swarm queen is old.
I wouldn't give up hope yet...
Rick
Seeing that it is such a small swarm and if it is indeed queenless, I think that I would combine it with the other hive and at some time in the future do a split.
As it stands should it be queenless you stand the likihood of loosing it due to the small numbers and the time it would take to go through the requeening process.
If is queenright however, I would be tempted to take a frame of two of brood from the strong hive and give them (it) to the swarm hive to get a heap of young bees coming on and strengthening the hive up that way. You need to keep an eye on the queen to ensure that she is laying adequately.
Mick
I think your only mistake was disturbing them so soon. You should wait 3 or more days to let them get accustomed to each other before going into the hive.
if you are going to lose them anyway, there is no harm in trying things. you learn for the next time, even if this hive fails.
i have done the hive swap and had them be kind of twitchy for a couple of days. the same reaction you see when there is robbing going on. then they settle down. i never thought to look inside, but things worked out ok anyway.
if it looks like they are going to make it and you want to boost them, give them a nice frame of capped brood and some nurse bees to keep the number up.