Watched my Queen Fly Away ............... SHE CAME BACK woo hooo

[Tommyt]

What a day I go out to the Nuc I bought last weekend and  took a frame from for my Trap out I can't find the queen
I had seen her Just about mid week and today I could see the little larva and all looked well but NO QUEEN
So I decide she is some where No Problem so I put frame back go to put the top On there she is
OH Crap now I don't want to Squash her so I turn the top so she can fall or climb into the hive as I set the top
on the edge she flies I mean Right by my Hip Had I had my hands Off the top I could have caught her
SO I leave the top and look for her Thinking she may have just hit the ground after she past me
NO LUCK  so now what??  Will they no enough to make another if she doesn't return
Is there any chance she will return
I'm going back outside to see If I can see any bees  gathering
Help

Thanks
Tommyt
I also  took a few Pictures of my Trap out and Posted them there

[Kathyp]

she may come back.  they often do.  had an observation hive queen do the same and found her back at the entrance to the hive.  if she does not, and they have eggs and there are still drones, they  have every chance of making a new queen.  up here i wouldn't do it, but you have a much longer season.  check with some of the FL people and see what they advise.

watch for clumps of bees outside your hive or in the grass as she may not make it all the way back.  recheck your hive in a couple of days.

[Scadsobees]

What Kathy said...and also, if you decide to let them be and wait it out, check back in about 3 days, by then if the queen is indeed lost, they'll have started on emergency queen cells.

[hardwood]

There's plenty of drones flying on this side of the state...I imagine you have them too. If they do end up making a new queen she should have a great chance to be well mated.

Scott

[AllenF]

Any time a queen flies away, just stop working with the hive and leave for a while.   She may just come right back. 

[iddee]

I agree with stop working, but not leaving. When she flies, she orients on the tallest thing around, YOU!. Just freeze in place for 5 minutes and she will be back. Many times landing on you.

[Tommyt]

Guys Thanks for the HOPES
I did stop and Unknowing Stayed there for a while.
I thought see tried to land on me she just missed my waist
SO I just stood still thinking I would step on her
I just starred at the ground around me thinking I may see her and
Maybe some followers walking around but No Luck
The funny thing she left alone? Unless it was a Quick switch and
a Bee went by me and she went right in the Box
I was just upset then I started to look on the ground
SO I guess I'll wait till Monday ? to open it
I did get to kill to shb on the lid before I closed it
The hive has a good amount of bees for its size but I haven't
set any bait for the beetles SHOULD I ?

Thanks
Tommyt

[Paynesgrey]

New beekeeper here. This spring when we installed we watched the marked, clipped (?) queen from one of our packages fly away. Twice. She came back, landed on me, and I lost her again trying to put her back in the queen box, because she was running away from the bees. We left the top off the hive til dusk, which wasn't long, then closed it up. A most mornful sound they made all night. The next morning we watched for and found a clump of bees in the grass a few feet away. We dumped the clump into the hive. It quieted, and the next time we checked, she was there. I hope your queen shows back up, but it does sound like the colony is well situated to make another queen.

I would trap for beetles immediately with a small hive like a nuc. We lost a split to them in just days, because it was too weak.  

[Tommyt]

I would trap for beetles immediately with a small hive like a nuc. We lost a split to them in just days, because it was too weak.  

Do you use the Fatbeeman bait trap or can you give me and Idea
Also mine is marked but not clipped
I didn't open it but they are very calm I put a feed jar by the hive yesterday
I just took it away they aren't touching it same with my trap out ones last week NO attention too it
I guess there is Better out in Nature
Thanks
Tommyt

[AllenF]

I never ended up with any dead beetles the season I used fatmans traps.   Oil trays and beetle barns work good.

[Tommyt]

Allen my Nuc Box is closed so Oil is out ??
what is the other

Tommyt

[AllenF]

Beetle barn
http://www.gabees.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=571&osCsid=97226a7d152a42f1a2136e3a7d66623f

But also look into beetle blaster, beetle eater, beetle jail, and the many others that fit throughout your hive.   

[Tommyt]

Alllen Thanks
I got too ask because I am new and this hive so small
did you use boric acid in the fatman hive
also the cd one with roach bait has Boric acid
IS it  NO Boric or Boric don't work

The Beetle barn looks like the CD case trap ?

[AllenF]

The beetles never went after the boric acid.   Never went after the trap I guess.  Try the CD case and see if it works. 

[Michael Bush]

If a queen flies, I pick up a frame of bees and shake it back into the hive.  This sets off nasonoving behavior.  Then I stand there for ten minutes to give the queen something to orient on, and leave the lid off so she can smell the nasonov... then I put the lid back on and hope she's there...

[Tommyt]

If a queen flies, I pick up a frame of bees and shake it back into the hive.  This sets off nasonoving behavior.  Then I stand there for ten minutes to give the queen something to orient on, and leave the lid off so she can smell the nasonov... then I put the lid back on and hope she's there...

Thanks MB
Well then, I might have Screwed the Pooch
I was out by it today and they seem normal
I even went over to listen thinking they would be mad or nervous
No extra flying in and out that I could tell

Tommyt
Can I open the hive tomorrow

[bugleman]

Oh Michael!  That is some sage advice.

I was making a split with about a 3 frame nuk and when I went to newspaper in the nuk I didn't see the queen as I set the frames into thier new home.  So I checked the box and sure enough, she was running around the inside.  As I had gloves on, and she was quite active, I didn't want to catch her with my fingers so I waited untill she move toward the top bars.

Let me add, she was a young freshly mated queen and her abdomen wasn't quite pointy yet.  So, when she was within about 6 inches of the top bars I gave her a gentle nudge thinking she would fall onto the top bars and crawl in with her offspring.  But, to my horror she fell straight down for about an inch and then deployed her wings and like a fire bomber after dropping a load she started to pull out of her fall and went tangent to the top bars and skimmed over them leaving only about an inch of air under her legges and then dissapeared into the golden evening light.  

"Oh bleep!", I said, "What to do now?"  I put the nuk back together and walked away after about 10 dismaying minutes.

The nuk was never queen right again and even though I found the queen from the split and got rid of her, it was queen right when I checked after about 3 days.  I will let you decide what happened.   :mrgreen:

[Tommyt]

Home Again Home Again :-D
Thanks For all the Ideas if and when there is a next time.
I just went out Got stung in the Hand :evil: angry all of us off
But I was Grinning when I saw that Dot I stopped right there and then
Put in a piece of comb I had Frozen to remove SHB or what ever
I rubber banded it in and now I wait a week and see whats up
Boy they were not in a good mood I'm going to walk over and check
the trap out if they are peed off to I'm walking away this little nuc
Bees Hurt like Heck

Tommyt

[philinacoma]

Glad to hear she's back!