Leo,
 
It's always possible that you dropped the queen off of the frame you were
examining, but the message here is that you should always examine brood
comb carefully, bring extra careful (in majestic respect) of the queen's
current area.
 
Then again, she may have tried to swarm.  Re-introducing the queen will do
no harm, since if the hive cast her out she will be recast.  Usually,
before your hive swarms, you will notice the presence of queen brood being
raised.  (Pay attention for this, because it may mean a number of things).
The young queen that hatches will dispose of the other queen brood larvae
and possibly dispose of the hybrid queen.
 
Your friend's advice is correct.  Wait and see.  When you go into the hive
(weekly) always locate the queen and note the pattern which she lays her
brood - should be in a tight circular pattern working outwards.
 
As far as bombus, they may try to steal from the hive but a strong colony
can fend them off.  They live in the ground and can usually coexist just
fine.
 
Welcome to beekeeping...
 
-Dave Lindquist
Newfane, Vermont
 
 
At 10:35 +0000 7/7/97, Leo Walford wrote:
>     I've had my first bees for about three weeks now, bought as a nucleus
>     and transferred into a UK national hive. Thye are in a park in central
>     London and, in spite of the atrocious weather we've been having, they
>     seem to have been doing an excellent job of drawing out comb and
>     filling it (not taking too much notice of the syrup I've given them).
>
>     I opened up the hive on Friday and felt it about ready for a super, so
>     put one on, with a queen excluder.
>
>     Yestersday (Sunday) afternnon, I was at the hive, watching the bees
>     come and go (as you do) in what seemed like the first decent day for
>     ages. I looked at the ground and noticed my clipped queen wandering
>     around next to my foot. I got her to crawl onto a leaf and put her
>     back into the hive through the entrance, but I am perplexed and
>     worried about how she got out of the hive. Does anyone have any
>     thoughts?
>
>     My guesses so far have been
>
>     1. I clumsily knocked her off a frame when I opened the hive a few
>     days ago and she's been on the ground ever since
>
>     2. She went for a wander and just fell off the alighting board
>
>     3. The bees tried to swarm (or even did swarm) and, because she's
>     clipped, she just fell off the alighting board
>
>     4. The other bees pushed her out of the hive for some reason
>
>     A beekeeping friend has suggested I wait a couple of days then check
>     the hive throroughly, making sure she is there and laying, and that
>     there are no queen cells.
>
>     Can anyone offer useful advice in addition and/or suggest any reasons
>     why this situation might have arisen? I must say that as an extreme
>     novice (most of the workers in my hive have been doing it for longer
>     than me!) this event was somewhat scary.
>
>     I also had a subsidiary question: when I looked at the hive on friday,
>     there were a few bumblelbees hanging around underneath it and,
>     seemingly, harassing those honey bees which were on their own (below
>     the level of the hive entrance), but the bumblebees did not seem to be
>     trying to get into the hive - any thoughts?
>
>     Thanks a lot
>
>     Leo
>     A beekeeper of three weeks and one hive, but already addicted.
 
 
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