Heather Gamper wrote:

> I am a new beekeeper and my bees swarmed into a near by oak tree this 
> morning, they were in the tree for about 45 minutes
> and then they came back to the hive.

Was your queen clipped?  If so, she would not have flown with the swarm and 
they would return.  Queen could be back in the hive or may have wandered off 
and got lost.

If queen was not clipped, I would suggest that you may have had a swarm a 
week ago (the old queen would have gone with that) and what you saw today 
was a mating swarm with a new queen.  If so, then you are lucky that they 
returned as these 'casts' often fly off.

How will you know what has happened?  Check the queen cells: if none have 
hatched (note that bees sometimes reseal hatched cells!) then the swarm was 
the old queen; if there are hatches then it was a new queen.

Your next move depends on your knowing exactly what has happened, so perhaps 
ask another experienced beekeeper to have a look if you are not sure.

Best wishes

Peter Edwards
beekeepers at stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/

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