# Queen switched hives!!



## A.B. (Sep 15, 2016)

I opened a hive today which i had introduced a new queen to and noticed two balls of bees in the bottom..
One ball had the new Golden queen in the middle I quickly re caged her.
The second ball had a Black queen in the middle which I also re caged, I'm pretty sure she came from the nuc next door a couple feet away so I opened it and there was no queen. 
I'm pretty sure she jumped ship from the nuc I was keeping/banking her and moved next door to the other hive.
Anyone had this happen??


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

I had a marked queen go back and forth between 3 nucs, killed the queen cells inside and was laying in each of the nucs. best part was I mark the nucs as to which hive they come from, checked each hive and they still had their queens, never figured out where that queen came from, she eventually departed on her own. I don't think she could have gotten to Australia so yours is probably different:thumbsup:


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## A.B. (Sep 15, 2016)

wildbranch2007 said:


> I had a marked queen go back and forth between 3 nucs, killed the queen cells inside and was laying in each of the nucs. best part was I mark the nucs as to which hive they come from, checked each hive and they still had their queens, never figured out where that queen came from, she eventually departed on her own. I don't think she could have gotten to Australia so yours is probably different:thumbsup:


Haha, could be the same one, maybe she left anticipating the outcome of your election (afraid of being grabbed..) 
Interesting though, they really do vary quite a bit in their behaviour huh.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I once opened a hive to find a queen being balled. I pulled her out and caged her and recognized her as the queen from next door. The reason I was sure was that this queen had had a paint disaster where the paint pen ran and the paint ran over her wing so she was quite distinctive. I looked next door and they were queenless. I looked closer in the hive where she was being balled and found the original queen. I still don't know what would possess her to move next door. It makes me wonder how often such things happen and we don't happen to catch it. One day I found a marked queen, that lived in that hive on the cover. I looked in the hive to make sure and there was no queen, so I put her back. She was still there months later. Why would she go for a walk outside? I don't know, but I have not seen such a thing since. Considering how seldom we see such things they are probably anomalies. But considering that we do see them on occasion and considering the odds of missing such things when they happen, I have to think such anomalies happen more often than we know.


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## A.B. (Sep 15, 2016)

Michael Bush said:


> I once opened a hive to find a queen being balled. I pulled her out and caged her and recognized her as the queen from next door. The reason I was sure was that this queen had had a paint disaster where the paint pen ran and the paint ran over her wing so she was quite distinctive. I looked next door and they were queenless. I looked closer in the hive where she was being balled and found the original queen. I still don't know what would possess her to move next door. It makes me wonder how often such things happen and we don't happen to catch it. One day I found a marked queen, that lived in that hive on the cover. I looked in the hive to make sure and there was no queen, so I put her back. She was still there months later. Why would she go for a walk outside? I don't know, but I have not seen such a thing since. Considering how seldom we see such things they are probably anomalies. But considering that we do see them on occasion and considering the odds of missing such things when they happen, I have to think such anomalies happen more often than we know.


Ah, so it does happen occasionally then. I suppose we can only guess why. Thanks for replying


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## A.B. (Sep 15, 2016)

I caged the introduced queen, blocked the cage opening with a twig and placed her back in the hive.
Should I candy the cage hole again and let them release her?


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

I'd just give them a few days with the queen caged in the hive, then do a direct release into the hive as long as the bees were calm with her.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

A question for those of you who have had this happen: Were the hives configured so the queen could reasonably walk between them, or would she have had to fly? Like, were they on a common hive stand?


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

Phoebee said:


> A question for those of you who have had this happen: Were the hives configured so the queen could reasonably walk between them, or would she have had to fly? Like, were they on a common hive stand?


mine were set on 4x4's and were 3 nucs in a row, so she had no problem walking, the key question is where she came from, she was marked and was not from a hive in the apiary the nucs were in, nor from any of the hives that the nucs were created from. My best guess would have to be she flew in by her self as the nucs didn't have more bees than normal, and the closest beek at that time was over a mile away. :kn:


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Like, were they on a common hive stand?

Mine were on a common stand and it was directly next door.


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## Father Time (Apr 10, 2014)

I have big observation hive, I introduced a queen cell to it in april. At the end of may I was looking in it and see a blue marked queen being balled I got her out and caged her. she is now and the still a leader of a diff hive.


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

A.B. said:


> I'm pretty sure she came from the nuc next door a couple feet away so I opened it and there was no queen.


When was the last time that you had inspected the nuc next door?


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## A.B. (Sep 15, 2016)

Riverderwent said:


> When was the last time that you had inspected the nuc next door?


A few days earlier I believe.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

ive had marked virgins return to the wrong hive when going on their mating flight.


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

A.B. said:


> A few days earlier I believe.


She likely got displaced during the inspection and went back to the wrong hive.


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

It's happened to me twice. Both times were at or around "treating with MAQ's" time. Suspect that queens try and avoid the stuff and then don't recognize their own hive because they all smell yucky. Found ball of bees with a doomed queen inside. Didn't take long to figure out where she came from. It happens and that's why I kept a few nucs on hand all summer.


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

I was splitting a colony into nucs and removed the original marked queen to a 5 frame nuc and placed it on a stand about 8 feet away. I split another 5 framer off and when I started the third nuc I saw the original queen on a frame back in the original colony. She would have returned to the original box in 5 minutes or a little more. I placed her back in the nuc and sealed the entrance with grass, after she was confined overnight she remained where she was placed.


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