>having given this matter some thought, I think the way I would choose
>would be this:
>
>Take a large cardboard box and shake all the bees into it, spraying them
>lightly with sugar syrup and shaking the box lightly from time to time.
>
>Then add the queen - direct release into the box - once the bees are
>demoralised and not flying or running.
>
>Then I would dump them immediately in front of the hive and let them run
>in with the queen
>
>This is assuming that I didn't have another hive to split and add the old
>bees from the drone layer to (after the queen is established in a split)
>in order to arrive to arrive at two colonies.
>
>Allen
>
>W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                        VE6CFK
>Rural Route One   Swalwell   Alberta   Canada  T0M 1Y0
>Email:   [log in to unmask]    or   [log in to unmask]
>Futures, Art & Honey:http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka
 
It is obvious this hasn't been tried, and I am really curious if it would
work.  I have done the other approach, taking the whole hive  a few yards
away, getting all the bees out, putting the supers back, and letting the
bees fly back to discover a new queen in a cage that they quickly release.
It has worked every time, strongly recommend it, even if its a bit more
work and agony.
 
bill fernihough  HONEY i s sweeter then wine.