Assuming hive was being usurped

[Bill Murray]

Ok never saw this before. Ill try to explain it. Walked outside about 10 min. ago and about 100,000 bees in the air. On the hive stand was a wad of bees about the size of a soccer ball, I walked over there and another wad of bees about the size of a tennis ball was on the ground rolling around. Took and poked the ball around with my finger and as I assumed  there was a queen in there. I pulled all the chewing bees off her( approx. 7 or 8) and that left 3 that went to grooming on her. She couldnt fly. walked over to my truck and put her in a queen catcher, turned back around and all the bees were out of the air. hardly any on the hive stand maybe an eighth. of what was originally. All this took about 3 min. I stuck the queen in the catcher with attendants between 2 frames in an empty super waiting to be put on a hive to be cleaned up to go into storage. OK here it comes Now what do with the queen. I have no idea where she came from. had to be one of the 12 boxes because she cant fly. I find this all interesting as all get out.

[Oldbeavo]

Time solves most things in bee keeping.
You can look in your hives in a few days and all those with eggs have a queen.
If you don't find eggs in one then look for a young queen or maybe early queen cells.
If no QC's or young queen then give it a few more days to see if a young queen that you missed to find has started to lay.
My next move after the above would be to add a frame of open brood with eggs to see if they will form QC's.
You can keep the rescued queen to see what happens but there has to be a reason why she was outside. Just add some bees from an open brood frame and wait.

[Bill Murray]

All good beavo I put her in a queen cage, and shoved the attendants in there and corked it . Ill figure it out tomorrow. Just had to think it through. again it was an interesting sight. And still would like to know what it was all about, but since I dont speak bee probably wont ever know.
Thanks for the input.

[Ben Framed]

Bill back in May, I noticed a swarm in progress at my home yard. It was pleasant observing while wondering, "Where are they going to land". They seemed confused. The complete swarm as a unit never landed. A few 'would land' for a couple minutes and off they would go back into the flying swarm again. A little bit later a small number would try and cluster in another spot, again a few would land and off they would go once again, back to the airborne swarming majority. To my surprise the big swarm finally flew back to the hive they left from.

I strolled to their location. They were pretty much all over the front of the hive, front, top, and sides and quickly began settling down and 'marching' in. I opened the top and bees were plenty. Questions went through my mind.

I had someplace to go and time was short so I did not dig in the hive. As I was walking away I noticed a small ball of bees on the ground 'behind' the hive. I knelt down and gently rubbed my finger through the ball. Sure enough! There she was! Thought she was in a ball, she was not being balled but taken care of. A white marked queen! I gently picked her up not wanting her to fly away and went for a queen catch cage. When I placed her in the cage I found the answer to the mystery. She only had one wing. I do not clip my queens.

Not being able to fly away with the swarm, and the swarm realizing they had no queen, they simply came back (home).

Phillip

[Michael Bush]

In the past two days I've twice found a queen outside a hive.  One was being balled.  The other just with some other bees hanging out on a frame of queen cells I was installing...

[Bill Murray]

So they left the hive they moved into yesterday, and did a home invasion on another. Saw this one. I have bees hanging everywhere and 2 queens now.

My POA, tomorrow go into the one they moved into today and if I can find a queen kill her dead, dead ,dead. And dump the bees.

If I cant find a queen, looking for any and all suggestions. Short of pouring gas on them.

[Bill Murray]

I talked with a friend of mine this evening and we are both wondering how often this happens in north fla. Both our assumptions are migratory beekeeper= AHB. Ill soap them tomorrow and be done with it.

[Michael Bush]

Usurpations have been documented in the U.S. as far back as the 1800s by C.C. Miller.  I do think Africanized bees are more prone to it, but it's not unheard of behavior for EHB.  I have not heard of them moving hive to hive as you describe.  Usually it just looks like a swarm is attacking an existing colony and taking it over.  I watched this once.  It was very interesting.

[BeeMaster2]

Michael,
Several years ago I watched a swarm move into a newly started Nuc, from a cutout, late one rainy evening. Two days later they moved  out and moved into another Nuc which some of the swarm had settled into. A couple of days later they left completely leaving two empty nucs. Pirate bees moved from one weak hive to another.
Jim Altmiller

[Michael Bush]

Well, that's two observations of this "roving band of pirate" bees.  Very strange.  Maybe killing them is the smart move so these genetics don't continue to spread...

[2Sox]

Michael,
Several years ago I watched a swarm move into a newly started Nuc, from a cutout, late one rainy evening. Two days later they moved  out and moved into another Nuc which some of the swarm had settled into. A couple of days later they left completely leaving two empty nucs. Pirate bees move JT from one weak hive to another.
Jim Altmiller

I?m not familiar with these abbreviations: POA, JT, EHB. Please advise. Thanks.

[Ben Framed]

I?m not familiar with these abbreviations: POA, JT, EHB. Please advise. Thanks.

Nor am I; Perhaps these can be added to the list which is posted in general beekeeping in the 'stickied section' Titled: Beekeeping acronyms

Phillip

[The15thMember]

I?m not familiar with these abbreviations: POA, JT, EHB. Please advise. Thanks.

POA = Plan of attack
EHB = European Honey Bee
I'm not sure about "JT". 

[2Sox]

I?m not familiar with these abbreviations: POA, JT, EHB. Please advise. Thanks.

POA = Plan of attack
EHB = European Honey Bee
I'm not sure about "JT".

Thank you.

[Bill Murray]

Well they wont be passing on any genetics any more.

[BeeMaster2]

You will have to ask Siri. She added that. Sorry I did not notice it before posting.
Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

I added POA to the stickied Topic: "Beekeeping acronyms" I started to ask Siri to do it but I have come to the conclusion, 'she is a mysterious girl who can not be trusted'! lol 

Phillip