I tried unsuccessfully to get a hive of bees out of a whiskey barrel by
using a screen cone exit into a hive box.  I put wet comb and a frame of
eggs and young larvae into the new hive.  Lots of activity for a while but
after two weeks the pound(?) of bees that adopted the hive box became
moribund and just hung around apparently in a funk, very little flight
activity.

I re-opened the bung-hole opening yesterday and immediately 20 bees
appeared and began fanning.

At this point, I just want to get the bees out of the barrel - alive.  Is
there hope?  The only opening is the bung-hole and it's not my barrel so I
would not want to damage it.  Any ideas?

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