I hived today the smallest swarm I have ever seen.  At first I didn't even
recognize it as a swarm!  Nestled in the grass, I used a drawn deep frame
to coax the bees out. The bees climbed onto the comb and barely covered one
side of the frame. The queen was last year's queen (marked white), so the
swarm was a first cast, I can't call it a prime swarm.  I am not sure what
hive cast the swarm, but it was only a few feet from the candidates;
possibly 15 feet give or take.  I did not verify that the queen could fly
but I have no reason to think she couldn't.  I would rule out speculation
that the queen emerged with a swarm, fell to the ground, and the swarm
returned to the hive. Actually I *have *seen golf ball size clumps of bees
with clipped wing queen, but I stopped clipping queen wings when Bush the
elder was president.  So why such a small swarm?  Tortilla size, perhaps an
inch thick.  Any SWAGs out there?

Aaron Morris, thinking dang, that's a small swarm!

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