hello fellow beekeepers,
 
well, this is my first season and things are finally underway here in new
zealand.
 
i went to check the food status of my hive a couple of days ago, & lo &
behold there was a BIG swarm on a fence post - not 10m away from my hive! at
first i thought they may have been part of mine but a quick inspection of my
numbers & vigilance in destroying queen cells over the past month showed that
not to be the case.
 
i siezed the opportunity to broaden my (so far 2 month) beekeeping
experience. i drew out my trusty textbook like a six shooter, and hurriedly
flicked to the swarm section....
 
i gathered up most of the swarm in a cardboard box and placed them in a new
single brood chamber hive (near my other one). silly me! i did it in the
middle of the afternoon (not evening), so when i went back today the other
half of the swarm (yesterday's foragers) was still on the fence post. just as
i was about to gather them up and place them with the others they flew off in
a great cloud.
 
my great fear now is that the queen has gone with the swarm, and i'm left
with a few thousand workers. if she's not there i'll just unite them with my
first hive, but i'd like to know as soon as poss. i guess the only way to
tell if i got the queen is to keep checking for eggs. how long will it be
before she starts laying?
 
please.... any advice from the experts will be appreciated.
 
Mark Horsnell,
 
Tel & Fax: 64-9-846-5644
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