> What makes it obvious that a swarm is queenless?  Maybe I was expressing
> myself a little to confidently.  Rather than "obviously" maybe I should
> have said "apparently" and rather than "swarm" I should have said
"cluster
> of bees" or something else.  I didn't go into great detail because the
> question I'm most interested in is "where do queenless swarms go?"

Just to throw a spanner in the works, consider this.
        Driving home a week ago I stopped for a swarm crossing a busy road,
coming back later I saw the swarm clustered on a bush.Now normally I don't
take swarms, as usually they're more trouble than enough, this time I
relented as I lost so many hives last year to Varroa.
        I hived what appeared to be a normal swarm, clustered and quiet. Dropped
them into a box, placed the box below the branch with the inner cover
partially over the box, left them till after supper. Later that evening,
when all flying was finished took them to our nearest yard.
        Checked them the next day, all appeared normal.
         Here it's a week later, a few wet days to keep them in, and I opened
them to find laying workers. No queen. Normally laying workers take up to
3 weeks before they appear, so why should these have turned bad so
quickly. All I know is, I shall ignore swarms in future, all this one gave
me was trouble, and I have to shake them out!




*****************************************
The Bee Works, 9 Progress Drive, Unit 2,
Orillia, Ontario, Canada.L3V 6H1.
Phone (705)326 7171 Fax (705)325 3461
David Eyre, Owner
e-mail<[log in to unmask]>
http://www.beeworks.com
****************************************