>>I'm getting so much terrific advice from all of you, I'm sure you can help >>me on this one. My sweet little queen, newly acquired this spring as part of >>a nuc, packed her little bags, rounded up a bunch of her best gal friends >>and swarmed away. I watched them in a big fir tree in front of my house over >>the course of two days, but they were up too high for me to retrieve them >>and apparently didn't like the hive box I set out for them. I tried tapping >>on it. Maybe I picked the wrong tempo or have a lousy sense of rhythm. >>Fortunately she left behind 5 or 6 queen cells. Since there were still >>plenty of bees remaining in the hive and they have an ample store of nectar, >>I thought it might be interesting to split the colony that remains into two. >>I've placed brood and queen cells in each box surrounded by frames full of >>nectar and honey. I have partially drawn comb, foundation and filled comb in >>boxes on top of each. The original colony is going strong with field bees >>commuting in and out when weather permits (this is western Oregon after >>all). But the new colony has only a few slightly disoriented field bees >>coming and going. I know the older field bees will return to the original >>colony, so this new upstart colony isn't getting much field action. Should I >>attempt to intervene in some way? Will they get rolling when some of the >>bees mature to the field? What else should I be watching for? Any and all >>advice is welcomed. Thanks for your help! >> >>Marcia in Portland >> Here are some ideas to try. Lets call the strong hive A and the week colony B. Switch locations and allow field bees to return to B. Move some combs of emerging brood from A to B. If A is strong enough try both of the above at the same time. Any of these manipulations will weaken A and strengthen B so be certain that A is strong enough to give up some bees and brood and be certain that B has a viable queen and, if you move brood, that they have the bees to care for it. If A is not yet strong enough to donate some bees and brood to B you might want to wait awhile. B may not improve much but when A is a booming colony you can give B a big boost. Good luck. Eric Abell Gibbons, Alberta Canada (403) 998 3143 [log in to unmask]