# What happens to the bees left behind after a cut out.



## Gilligan (May 8, 2013)

Obviously you can't get them all.

So, like this cut out we did the other day in a shed. I went back the next evening and there were a couple of hundred bees hanging out, confused just buzzing around and clinging to the wall in random groups.

They seem to have no motivation and weren't festooning or anything.

We definitely got the queen, so what happens to those bees?


----------



## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

They die off in a week or two. You can leave a piece of honeycomb with honey or syrup still in it, put it in a small box bucket or whatever close to where the entrance was, retrieve it at dusk and should get the remainder of them.


----------



## Gilligan (May 8, 2013)

Slow Drone said:


> They die off in a week or two. You can leave a piece of honeycomb with honey or syrup still in it, put it in a small box bucket or whatever close to where the entrance was, retrieve it at dusk and should get the remainder of them.


I guess I'm also curious as to the "why"?


----------



## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

They don't always just die-off, sometimes, if any other hives are anywhere near, they will often beg their way in as orphans. Otherwise, yes, they will die, but generally still live out their normal but short lives.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Generally if there is nothing left for them (no comb, no queen etc.) they will spiral outwards until they catch the small of a honeybee colony and they will move in with them.


----------



## ginkgo (Apr 26, 2013)

Michael Bush said:


> Generally if there is nothing left for them (no comb, no queen etc.) they will spiral outwards until they catch the small of a honeybee colony and they will move in with them.


Is this personal observation and/or researched with marked bees? I see two of my hives with aggressive defending at entrances, but perhaps the demeanor of a homeless beggar is different from a potential robber?

Thanks.


----------

