In a message dated 97-03-27 10:30:31 EST, [log in to unmask] (James Russo) writes: << Three days ago, I caught a medium sized swarm. I put it into a nuc box and put it onto the stand with my other hives. Yesterday, when I opened the box to put a hive top feeder on it, I was surprised to see the queen walking around on the top of the inner cover. I then put her into the box. To my surprise, another queen walked out onto the top of the frames. I did not think that 2 queens would stay in the same box! I lifted a few frames to prove to myself that there were 2 queens, and sure enough there were. Could the swarm have contained 2 queens? Is this a common occurance? Will some of the colony likely swarm out of the box with one of the queens? I'm a second year beekeeper, so this was new to me. >> If both were mated queens, you have a merged swarm from two hives. I have seen three on one occasion. There are often a half dozen virgins, as well, sometimes more. Once they are in hives, they will sort things out. The mated queen(s) may lay for a while, but most likely will be soon replaced by one of the virgins. The bees prevent them from fighting when they swarm, but that doesn't last. [log in to unmask] Dave Green, PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC 29554 (Dave & Jan's Pollination Service, Pot o'Gold Honey Co.) Practical Pollination Home Page Dave & Janice Green http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html