>Hi all!
>I just had a strange experience.  The day before yesterday I captured a huge
>swarm from one of my own hives.  I checked afterwards and there were still a
 
I would suggest two possible reasons for this behaviour.
        Robbing. If a hive has lost it's queen (swarmed) the remaining bees
appear to be demoralized and don't fly well till the new queen
emerges.Suggest to test this, watch for agitated guard bees on the entrance,
also watch for bees running up the face of the hive before taking off. With
their pockets full of stolen honey they can't take off easily and as cleanly
as usual. To cure robbing, close the entrance down to about 3/4" or so, the
remaining bees should be able to establish guarding again.
        House cleaning. In early spring there will be lots of dead bees on
the bottom board. If you haven't cleaned the bottom board (as you should
have done) the bees will be dragging out the deceased and flying off with them.
        Hope these will help. If it is robbing, then move quickly, I've seen
a small hive cleaned and killed in a few days, without the interference of
the keeper.
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