Queen, queen, where is the queen? Or, yet another swarm.

When I was bottling beer, Maidi exclaimed "Another swarm!"  Sure enough, there was a cloud of bees near Olea's hive.  It slowly and erratically moved over the fence into Paul's yard.
Earlier today I had checked the cluster in his yard and it was still there.  So I wondered if this cloud could be the cluster on its way to its new home.  I scurried into Paul's yard and saw that the cluster  was gone. 
Was today's swarm the cluster?  A new swarm?  I watched it and surprisingly it settled onto the same bush that the older cluster had been on.
There are three clumps of bees, the smallest at the lower edge of the picture.  The queen is in one of them but they all have not yet figured it out.
I looked in Olea's window and there are still a lot of bees, but there is bare comb at the end.
So what's going on?  It certainly would be easier if each colony wore a different uniform.
Possibility 1:  The cluster left unobserved for a new home in the hour-and-a-half between the time I checked them and the time the swarm appeared, when, coincidentally, Olea's hive swarmed and the queen landed on the same bush only a foot away from where the cluster had been.
Possibility 2:  The cluster left for its new home but for some reason (perhaps the queen did not go with them) they returned to their bush.  While the cloud of bees was in the air, a woodpecker was flying through eating bees.  Could it have,against great odds, eaten the queen?
I do not think we will ever know the truth, but does it matter?  The bees endure.

House cleaning

When I shook the swarm into the box, several leaves and twigs fell in also.  I fished out some of them but a few were left behind.  Over the past couple of days the girls have been moving them out.

Meanwhile, the swarm is still in the bush next door.  Today there have been scouts in and out of the bait hive.  There has not (yet) been more than one at a time.

One scout leaving

Another one (or maybe the same) arriving

Ants in the nuc

I actually have two things to report.
Yesterday when we were leaving for marimba, Paul was in his driveway.  He tole me there were more bees in his yard.  Sure enough, in the bush next to the one that had the previous swarm there was another.

I pondered the possibilities: collect this swarm in another nuc; call another beekeeper to collect it; just let it alone.  Paul and I talked it over a bit and decided to let it alone.  It just may go to my bait box.  I added a couple more drops of lemon grass oil to encourage them.  If it does not go to my box, then it will find a home somewhere else and we will have one more feral hive.
This morning I took a look at my nuc and there was a trail of ants going into it.  I had figured they would get there eventually, but they are quicker than I imagined.  (Isn't nature amazing!)  I had to protect them somehow.  There are two may posts to the table and lavender plants touch it so tangle foot would be impracticable.  I had to get the nuc off the table top somehow.  I looked around and did this.

Water in the dish making a moat

If you look closely at the bottom picture you can see and ant or two trying to find a way up. 
The returning bees were confused for only a few seconds, quickly finding their way into the hive.

The swarm that did not get away

While working in the rose garden, I heard buzzing from over the fence in Paul Elerick's yard.  I peeked over the fence and saw bees flying around between these two bushes.  (The fence in the photo is in Paul's yard.)

I got permission to go into the yard, and sure enough, there was a swarm clustered on the larger bush.

I got an empty nuc box, taped the entrance shut and, while holding it awkwardly under the cluster, shook the branches vigorously. 

Here are the bees in the box.  Having failed to get the queen in past swarm capture attempts, I took a look in the bush to see how much of the cluster remained.

I decided to cut the branch (after getting Paul's permission) so I could shake all the bees into the box and be assured of having the queen.  I went back to get my clippers.  On my return I saw this:

You can see all the bees flying around, a mini-swarm.  The queen must have been in the box since all the remaining bees had left the bush. 
I put the lid on the box and left it for a couple of hours (while I went to Dinah's and inspected her hives with her).  On my return, the bees were all in the box except for a few.  I carried the nuc to our yard and placed it on the potting table.  Then I took off the duct tape and put in five frames, four with foundation and one foundationless.

The bait box on the frame and the nuc on the table.  Asparagus in the foreground

Now, what will I do with this colony?  

#3 is queenright

There were several frames with a good pattern of brood.  However, only about a quarter of the frame was with brood.  I conclude that there is a good queen but as of now there has been a bit of a shortage of nurse bees.  The queen will not lay more eggs that can be taken care of.  When the present brood hatches and the nurse bee population increases, I expect she will lay in larger areas.

One frame with an area of a good brood pattern

The bees had not done anything on the coated drone frame except maybe chewed a little.
I wanted to add bars to Olea's.  I saw a piece of comb on the bottom of the box and removed it.  In doing so, I had to take out another bar and this one had some cross-combing with honey.  I moved it to the back and a minute or two later I heard a the loud, short hum the bees make when jostled.  I looked and a big piece of the comb with honey had fallen.  It too was retrieved.  I put in enough bars to fill the box.

Comb laying on bottom of box

The honeycomb that fell

 I took a look into the top box of #1.  There may have been some comb drawn but nothing dramatic.  There was a small amount of nectar.
The woodpeckers are back snacking on the bees so I put up the pole with flash tape again.

Swarm escapes!

The fava beans cleaned up

I was cleaning up the fava bean bed, listening to my recorded book when I noticed a humming.  Initially I did not think much of it, but it seemed to be getting louder.  I turned around and there was a cloud of bees in the yard.  One of the hives had just swarmed!  I followed the cloud as it flew towards the back gate, then over the shed and around the plum tree.  It was fairly high up.  I ran out the back gate and watched the swarm head towards the redwoods.  I never saw exactly where it settled, but Maidi, Karly and I could see bees flying around near the top of the redwood tree, at least 80 feet up.  There will be no capturing that swarm.

The cluster is up somewhere up there

Which hive swarmed?  I looked in Olea's and it is still full.  I doubt #1 swarmed because it is so young having just started this spring.  So I figure #2 or 3.  I will be able to tell by going in the hive but I am reluctant to do so.  Only three days ago I inspected #3 and switched the drone frame in #2.  I will just have to wait, although knowing which one is only academic.
Maybe we can guess by doorway activity.

 The left photo is #3.  The right is #2.







Naturally I would like to capture the swarm, although I have no idea what I would do with it.  So I put a used nuc up for a bait hive.  It has a couple of frames with partially drawn comb in it and I will put some lemongrass oil in it and at the entrance.  It is on top of the potting shed frame.

Waiting for the swarm

Addendum, May 12:  I awoke early and thought about the bait box.  It came to me that the scout bees look for a certain size space and that they might not find a box filled with frames attractive.  I immediately got up and went to the box where I took out all but the foundationless frame.  I left the frame because it has lots of old wax and propolis on it.

Something for all four hives

A busy day today for the bees.  I did something in each of the four hives.
Olea's got two more bars.  First I had to cut some comb to remove the last bar.  There was honey and some cross-combing to the adjacent bar.  I put an empty bar between each of the two bars at the end and turned the last one (with the honey and cross-combing) 180 degrees.  Olea's seems to be thriving and most likely will give a comb honey crop.
#1 simply got a second deep box.  About half of the new frames have drawn comb.  The others are pristine foundation, which comes coated with wax or foundations that I covered with new wax.
#2 had the old drone frame removed and replaced with one of the coated frames that I prepared the other day.

The top box of #3

#3 was carefully inspected.  There seems to be a good number of bees.  I got the impression that the proportion of drones had decreased but I have a strong bias to want it to be so.
I did see larvae.  I remembered a hand lens and I did see some eggs.  I did not spot the queen.  The pattern of eggs and larvae was not a strong pattern.
I did see this:

An empty queen cell from which a queen as emerged!  You can tell she emerged by the sharply chewed edges of the opening.
What is going on in #3?  I wish I knew.  It does look like it is doing ok.  In another couple of weeks I will look again and I hope to see lots of capped brood.