> Could this swarm be the original one that
>swarmed and survived out in the open, during extremely cold temps for 5 days?
>Or did my hive swarm again so soon (I know that it would be rare for a hive the
>swarm so close together)?
 
The first large swarm would have been the "prime swarm" and the small swarm
would have been a secondary swarm or "caste".  The year before last I had a
single large hive and it swarmed.  Since I had no experience and no equipment
to put it in a new hive, I lost it.  Subsequently at intervals several days
apart, I had four more smaller swarms issue from it.  I don't know what the
greatest number is, but I know there can be a number of swarms issue from one
hive in the same season.
 
Layne Westover