I put bungee cords around the nuc with the old frame and a split's worth of bees. I didn't block the entrance, figuring that home was only a short drive away and the girls would probably make the trip inside the nuc. Sure enough, they traveled inside the nuc and there were only about 6 bees in the car when I arrived at home.
As I said in an earlier post, when I found the queen, the frame on which she was walking had an almost perfect queen cell on it. The cell was a dark peanut, perfectly shaped and looking ripe for an emerging queen. I assume the bees knew they needed a new queen and made one. When she emerges, I guess one of them will be killed.
I brought the nuc home to my deck apiary. I put it beside the box they had lived in at Blue Heron. I thought it might make them comfortable and reminded of home. If a new queen emerges and this hive does well, I might move it to the larger hive box and keep it over the winter.
We'll see what happens. If their economy gets better, maybe they can move into more upscale housing again!
Look at all that wonderful smoker fuel lying on your hive deck! :-)
ReplyDeleteSteven
Every once in a long while I get out a broom and gather it into a bucket!
ReplyDeleteI've read that emergency queen cells aren't so big but when the bees have more time to plan they make a nice big cell. Let's hope she's a lovely queen.
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