Hi all -
 
Someone called me last week about a bunch of bees running in & out of a
whiskey barrel in their back-yard.  I picked up the hive, barrel & all -
though I could hear the comb fall to the bottom on the first tilt of the
barrel.
 
Today, I split apart the barrel & emptied all bees into a new hive,
though I'm uncertain the queen wasn't killed in the previous move.
There was some 10-15" of comb laying on the bottom of the barrel.  I
found several hundred dead bees both on the comb & immediately outside
their old entrance.  All the other hives I've pulled - the bees gathered
around the queen several inches thick once I started taking apart their
comb.  This time, they were about 1/2" thick on the entire inside of the
barrel - in a fairly uniform dispersion.
 
Weaver Apiaries sent me a Buckfast queen which I was hoping to use on
this hive, though it may be hopeless to try to find the old queen IF she
exists - at least until they setup housekeeping & I can find their new
brood frames, which could be another week or more wasted.
 
Should I just add the new queen now, knowing at least ONE queen will
reside?  I'm not sure how long this new queen will last in her box -
feeding drips of honey & water to her now & then -- & I'd like to make
sure this hive doesn't start out queenless this late in the season.  Or
is it best to wait & see (this was a large hive, so the old queen was
definately doing her job). Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
Matthew Westall - in Colorado