Hi Mathew
 
You describe how you removed the bees from the barrel and found a few
combs had fallen, raising the risk that you killed the queen. You
also mentioned that the remaining bees were spread all over the
inside of the hive.
 
In bee removals it is not uncommon for the bees to kill their queen
in a state of agitation, so even if the comb was not repsonsible,
what you describe sounds to me like a queenless swarm.
 
When a queen is not in a swarm it becomes very runny. If you divide
the clump into two and shake them into two boxes, both boxes will
have feebly scenting bees. What is happening here is they assume that
the queen is flying around and are pumping out a homing pheremone to
call her in. This can go on for hours and the bees mill around
aimlessly. If a queen is present they easily calm down and soon no
bees are seen milling around. This is true even for very hot weather
- the swarm just becomes less dense hanging in a loose lump.
 
So my adivice would be to introduce the new queen seeing as you have
her.
 
Keep well
 
Garth
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
Eastern Cape Prov.
South Africa
 
Time = Honey
 
After careful consideration, I have decided that if I am ever a V.I.P
the I. may not stand for important.
(rather influential, ignorant, idiotic, intelectual, illadvised etc)