went to bait up a trap today opened it up and there was a worker inside moved a frame and a bee about two or three x as big as the worker climbed on my hand i put her back and closed the hive my question will a queen come by herself then the swarm or what i am almost positive it was a queen and by the way caught a swarm 3 weeks ago same trap same place thanks for any info
Are you using swarm lure with queen pheromones? Maybe a virgin looking to kill queen cells?
Trimman, not meaning to insult your intelligence, but do you know what a drone is? It could be that they smell where the swarms have been and came through looking for a quick meal.
:) yes i do no what a drone looks like and you are not insulting me in any way but i know what a queen looks like and i have never seen one by herself could i take a frame of brood and bees and a frame of honey and start a nook or should i just do away with her
If it is a queen I would put her in a queen cage and then add a couple of frames of brood/bees. After a day or so they will be ready to accept her. If you put the queens right into the hive, they will kill her if there is not enough time for them to realize they were queen less. If she had at least a handful of bees, they could protect her during the transition from one queen to another.
Jim
thanks jim thats an answer i was looking for
If it is a queen, then a swarm may have moved on without her. If so, then they may be back once reality sinks in.
Quote from: trimman on April 08, 2014, 11:54:04 PM
thanks jim thats an answer i was looking for
Glad I could help.
Jim