Always Amazing

[FloridaGardener]

Sept 10th: 80 deg. F at 9am, heading for 87 with nights at about 70 degrees.
    Hives are active, obviously found good forage.  I'm inspecting smaller colonies, putting a sticky frame in each since there was reduced change of robbing.  All of a sudden it seemed like there was a cloud of robbers - Oh man.  I ran for the white sheet & screens. But then it occurred to me (1) no fighting (2) no angry hissy whiney sound (3) no bee was head pinging or face floating.  And then I realized... I had a hive swarming.
     As good bees should beehave, they began covering the swarming post in the bee-yard. I cut off the smoke to they could smell.  It was a  slow collection. And hour later they were still mustering.  I had a nuc box out with lure. Kept checking around the post for Queenie. Finally - there's the cluster with the Queen!  I scooped up in tiny cordboard box and and gently poured into the nuc with 4 frames of empty comb. 
    Now here's the amazing part.  (Aside from a September swarm.)  They hung on so tight to her that they were in a 3" diameter ball.  I had to pull out a frame to get the lump down.  I gently prodded and saw a Q thorax - enough to be sure....but they were NOT letting her go.

    I went back to the swarmed hive, took it apart, and amazingly...on some burr comb...a newly emerged queen, almost transluscent, and still covered in goo.  So amazing.
        My guess is that they had to push pull and drag the older Q out, then pin her down, so the new Q could emerge without being eliminated.  Whatcha think?
      The hive was jam-packed.  There was a half-frame of capped drones and  they had used almost all stores to supply 12 frames of solid-packed capped brood.  When it all settled, the old Q in the nuc has a fairly small group, I put some brood in to anchor them and closed the screen for today.
    I split up the hive too, it was aiming to be much too crowded when the capped bees emerged!
 

[Ben Framed]

Sept 10th: 80 deg. F at 9am, heading for 87 with nights at about 70 degrees.
    Hives are active, obviously found good forage.  I'm inspecting smaller colonies, putting a sticky frame in each since there was reduced change of robbing.  All of a sudden it seemed like there was a cloud of robbers - Oh man.  I ran for the white sheet & screens. But then it occurred to me (1) no fighting (2) no angry hissy whiney sound (3) no bee was head pinging or face floating.  And then I realized... I had a hive swarming.
     As good bees should beehave, they began covering the swarming post in the bee-yard. I cut off the smoke to they could smell.  It was a  slow collection. And hour later they were still mustering.  I had a nuc box out with lure. Kept checking around the post for Queenie. Finally - there's the cluster with the Queen!  I scooped up in tiny cordboard box and and gently poured into the nuc with 4 frames of empty comb. 
    Now here's the amazing part.  (Aside from a September swarm.)  They hung on so tight to her that they were in a 3" diameter ball.  I had to pull out a frame to get the lump down.  I gently prodded and saw a Q thorax - enough to be sure....but they were NOT letting her go.

    I went back to the swarmed hive, took it apart, and amazingly...on some burr comb...a newly emerged queen, almost transluscent, and still covered in goo.  So amazing.
        My guess is that they had to push pull and drag the older Q out, then pin her down, so the new Q could emerge without being eliminated.  Whatcha think?
      The hive was jam-packed.  There was a half-frame of capped drones and  they had used almost all stores to supply 12 frames of solid-packed capped brood.  When it all settled, the old Q in the nuc has a fairly small group, I put some brood in to anchor them and closed the screen for today.
    I split up the hive too, it was aiming to be much too crowded when the capped bees emerged!
 

They hung on so tight to her that they were in a 3" diameter ball.  I had to pull out a frame to get the lump down.  I gently prodded and saw a Q thorax - enough to be sure....but they were NOT letting her go.

Whatcha think?

I think you had fun. lol
Did you look for more than one queen in this swarm? I have not seen bees balling a swarm queen as it seems you are describing.  Sounds like they were balling her to me.. Everytime I have dissected a swarm, before shaking into the printer box, the queens were free to roam around as they please in and on the swarm ball. In fact when on a low limb etc. I generally just watch the ball for a while and usually she or they will emerge to the surface and I will catch them then if I am fast enough. They might dive back in if I'm not. Never have I seen what you describe as a potential balling situation with bees hanging on her for dear life.
Once I box them in a copy paper box and spill them on the ground in front of a provided, (new home) Nuc box, I have occasionally seen them protecting her but with the touch of a finger and they will seperate, not hanging onto her as you described here. Most of the time the queen or queens will simply march in with the gang like one of the gang. I have queen clips 'plural' while Im sitting on the ground next to the action, hovering over them, ready to catch her on her way in. Or more if there's more than one swarm queen in a multi queen situation, as this scenario occasionally does occur in my experience.