Honey extractor for retirement and nuc report

The people in Urgent Care threw a retirement party for me a couple of days ago.  It was at the Cypress Hotel and was very nice.  They gave me a 4-frame honey extractor, a very generous gift.

The extractor on its stand

Looking inside.  The mesh cage spins around fast spraying out the honey into the barrel.

This morning I took the captured swarm over to Bruce and Gregg's.  Last night when all the bees had returned to the nuc I had taped over the entrance.  We dumped the bees into their box, put in some frames and closed it up.  Sadly, Gregg called me this afternoon to report that all the bees had left.  Bees abscond when there is something they don't like in their environment.  Perhaps they'll make it until spring, but I think it's unlikely as swarms this late in the year have a poor chance of surviving.