>My only objection to this method is that you haven’t really “saved” a colony, you have simply started a new one amidst the old bees from the failed one.

Snelgrove was right of course.

I use two methods:

If I have a nuc available with a laying queen then I put this next to the hive for a day or so.  Then I shake all the bees out of the laying worker hive a few yards away from the site and install the nuc.  I do not cage the queen.  Never failed yet.

If I do not have a nuc then I shake the bees out, add the brood chamber to the hive next door and let the workers beg their way back into any nearby hive.  If this happens early in the season then it is often possible to split the boxes later.

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W

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