>
>Peter T. Kneeland wrote
>
> My brother and nephew dumped the swarm into a
> large box and set it down. Before they could get  the rest of the bees
> collected  the entire lot left the box and returned to their original =
hive.
> I've just returned from  work to find the hive behaving in a fairly
> normal fashion.
>
> My question ..... is this normal? Has anybody ever had this  experience=
?
>
Peter,
 
I have a similar tale to tell; about three weeks ago I had almost been =
round all my
colonies looking for swarm preparations and taking precautions and was =
sitting
quietly in the garden when one of two hives I keep there decided to misbe=
have.
 
The hive has a last year's queen and when I went through it at 11am that =
day it
was strong but quiet - there was a good distribution of eggs, open & clos=
ed
brood and was happily working in the honey super.  At 3pm it swarmed,
unusually the swarm broke up, most settled in a nearby gorse bush but thr=
ee
smaller clusters formed in other bushes/trees.  Fortunately all were acce=
ssible
so along with my wife I collected the clusters and put them in a bait hiv=
e together
with a frame of open brood from the parent hive.  The bees ran into the =
bait hive
eagerly [I didn't see the queen] and appeared to settle.
 
I had to go to an out-apiary to finish my round for the week, and when =
I returned
home 2 hours later the  bait hive was empty but for a few bees covering =
the
frame of brood but the parent hive was "throng", with bees covering the =
front.
Since that time there has been no discontinuity in egg laying in the hive=
 and no
queen cells have developed, from this and the continued strength of the =
 
parent hive I am convinced the swarm returned.
 
The weather was hot & humid and came several days into a hot spell after =
a very
delayed spring, and at the end of a nectar flow - I think that what I exp=
erienced
was a heat-swarm - I removed the entrance block and put on another super =
to
give better ventilation and more clustering space, and have had no troubl=
e since.
 
Comments?
 
Geoff Allison
Dalbeattie, Scotland