Palm Sized cluster surrounding young Queen
It was 7:00pm and I had just arrived at our NWC Carniolan Breeding yard. Fog was just beginning to roll in as I began weed-wacking the yard. As I completed my weed-wacking I noticed this small cluster of bees wedged in between two of our wind wall cinder blocks. I got down to my knees, took my glasses off since the evening light was dimming, and pushed my face into the cluster. Yes there was a queen in the cluster- it was a virgin queen from one of our recent grafting sessions- she got lost as she was flying back to the hive from her 1st mating flight. Since it was getting dark I scooped up the cluster and put them into an empty Summer Nuc Mating box which I set next to where I had found her. Then I spent the next half hour picking up the remaining bees and adding them to the mating box. Before I left, I added a feeder. The next day Mary and her intern identified the hive she was trying to fly back too and re-introduced her to the hive.
Temp Summer Matting Nuc set next to Wind Wall
