"Let's have more case histories"

Last year, I set up my first hive with a brand new 3lb package and marked
queen.  It was installed on the 17th of April on foundation.  On one of the
first warm days in June, after filling up two deep brood chambers, they
swarmed, leaving two deep brood chambers and two completely empty medium
supers of foundation. (The undrawn foundation, incidently, was plasticell,
but I am not giving up on it yet because I paid good money for it damn it.)
Since I didn't have any extra equipment and no money to buy more, I captured
the swarm in a cardboard box and gave them to a friend who was very
grateful. I didn't know about recombining at the time.  That was a
championship queen and a bunch of healthy field bees that he kept through
the winter.  My remaining colony built back up and is still with me,
hopefully recovering from a heavy mite infestation.
     I don't see how you can make broad generalizations about swarms.  They
could be just about anything.  Especially around here where there are little
apiaries all over the place.  It does seem wise to keep an eye on them for a
while, though.
          Steve Noble

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