At 08:21 PM 5/15/96 +0000, you wrote:
>     Hello all.
>     Late last week, when I was into my hives, I notice queen cells.
>     Not a good thing for me, as I did not want splits OR swarms.
>     However, at that time, I didn't have the equipment I needed
>     with me to do much more than cut the cells I could find and
>     button 'er up again.
>
>     Early this week, on Monday, a bright, clear day, with the
>     temperatures in the mid to high 60s (Dayton, Ohio, USA{39.9N})
>     I went into the hive to split it cull some of the brood and
>     place it in another hive and super the hive with sections.
>
>     All went well, up to a point.
>
>     I found the queen and ensured that she was settled into the
>     hive (like a klutz I did not bring my push in cage with me) and
>     began to remove, shake and relocate frames of brood, replacing
>     them with open and empty drawn comb.  I got the hive body back
>     together again and had picked up the sections to place them on
>     top of the now single story hive, when I saw the queen walking
>     around on top of the frames.  I stopped and waited, figuring
>     that she would soon go back down into the hive, for I did not
>     want to run the risk  of crushing her.  Well, she did not run
>     down.  She took off  and flew.  I had my hands full and
>     couldn't try to catch her.  I tracked her for several seconds
>     then she blended into the rest of the hustle and bustle of
>     bees.
>
>     After a moment of thought, I went ahead and placed the
>     sections, then took some of the remaining brood frames and
>     shook bees onto the front porch of the hive.  They immediately
>     exposed their Nassonov (SP?) gland and began to fan.  Flying
>     bees began to cluster on the  front of the hive.
>
>     I hope that the queen will follow the scent into the hive and
>     take up where she left off.  If not I can place a split with a
>     laying queen on it and thus requeen the hive.
>
>     How have you all dealt with this problem?  Will she come back
>     home or do I need to break off the split which was targeted to
>     become part of a two queen system, and place it on the hive?
>
>     Any input, experts?
>
>     (I am a hobbyist with 4 years experience, but I havn't lost a
>     queen yet ... til now, darnit.)
>
>     Mark Egloff
>     [log in to unmask]
>
I have had this happen to me on two occasions.  The first time I didn't know
that the queen had gotten out of the hive.  It was a hive that I had
recently started from a package.  I had been working the bees and couldn't
find the queen so I buttoned up and went to the next hive. I went back to
that hive about an hour later and saw the queen flying around the hive.  I
took the top off the hive and she landed on the back of the hive and walked
in and was welcomed.
 
The second time it happened I had found the queen and was looking at her on
the comb.  She took wing and like you, I watched her fly into the wild blue
yonder. Next day I checked the hive and she was back laying eggs just like
normal.
 
Both these queens were Yugo and both were in very young colonies.  I have
never had this happen with Italian bees.
 
Frank Humphrey
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