Experiment not thought through

[Mimi]

I’ve got two swarms (one caught and the other bees enter) with bees and I’m out of equipment (refuse to buy more since I’m downsizing). So I split a 10 frame box in half (4 frames each) which had 2 Virgin Queens and many emergency Queen cells. I dumped the two swarms on each sides expecting a war - although there was a little roar they must’ve been very young nurse bees because they didn’t break out into all front war in the middle. All 4 virgin Queens I had captured I released in front entrance and let them choose sides. All four choose the right side with the emergency Queen cells. Guess they will fight to death now - let the strongest win?

1) Was the left side just not as good smelling because it didn’t have as much brood frames?
2) Could there be yet another Queen in the left side?
3) I forgot to put out catch boxes for the returning foragers (thought they would dissipate into my other hives nearby. What’s the best way to deal with small clumps of returning foragers?

Mimi




Sent from my iPhone

[MLuskin]

What a free for all! Is there a barrier between the two sides?
Merry

> On Jun 30, 2024, at 10:17 AM, Mimi <mimi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I’ve got two swarms (one caught and the other bees enter) with bees and I’m out of equipment (refuse to buy more since I’m downsizing). So I split a 10 frame box in half (4 frames each) which had 2 Virgin Queens and many emergency Queen cells. I dumped the two swarms on each sides expecting a war - although there was a little roar they must’ve been very young nurse bees because they didn’t break out into all front war in the middle. All 4 virgin Queens I had captured I released in front entrance and let them choose sides. All four choose the right side with the emergency Queen cells. Guess they will fight to death now - let the strongest win?

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[Mimi]

Yes it’s a Queen defender hive and able to split in half (3 or 4 mating nucs). Mimi

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 30, 2024, at 12:14 PM, 'MLuskin' via The Alameda County Beekeepers Association <the-alameda-county-b...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
> What a free for all! Is there a barrier between the two sides?

> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/the-alameda-county-beekeepers-association/75D08275-794B-4D11-A1B8-B4DC1788DBAD%40yahoo.com.