I removed some bees out of an old water truck Friday. While in the process, I realized that I might be dealing with two different colonies. One was in the cab of the truck and the other was in the fuel tank. (The truck is almost rusted away). After getting several frames of brood into the box and I am pretty sure that "She" was on one of the comb sections, I closed up the hive. It took 1 deep and 1 shallow. After 30 minutes or so of the bees orienting to the new hive I noticed a clump of them on the ground near where the fuel tank entrance was. I smoked them up hoping they would go to the new box. I returned Monday evening to close them up and transport. There was still a large clump of bees on the ground where they had been Friday. I grabbed a nuc, sprayed the frames with 1:1 and put it on the ground by them. They immediately marched into the box. I was impressed. My question is this. Was the queen in that clump or were they just staying there because of the residual smell or is something else going on.
Thanks
I would guess that she was in that clump.
She most likely was in the clump.
...JP
They seem to be doing pretty well so far. I did not get any comb or stores in the nuc with them. I was thinking about adding a frame or two of drawn comb to give them a pantry for any pollen or nectar that they might bring in.