SWARM CONTROL Finding the queen. You have found occupied queen cells. 1. Move the hive to one side 2. Put a new floor + brood box (with drawn frames or foundation and one space) on original site. 3. Lift a frame (with some brood on but no queen cells) with the queen on it and place it into the new box. 4. In the old box, select one good unsealed queen cell (a sealed cell could be empty), preferably at the top of a frame, mark the frame with a pin, and remove ALL other queen cells. Insert a new frame where you’ve taken one out. Close this hive with crown board and roof. 5. Using a queen excluder, place any supers over the new box (the one with the queen) on the original site and close this hive with crown board and roof. 6. Check both colonies 4 days later and remove any emergency queen cells that may have appeared. 7. Do not disturb the colony with the queen cell until the new queen has had a chance to be mated - approximately three weeks. SWARM CONTROL Without finding the queen Assuming your bees haven’t already swarmed, if you put all the bees in a box then the queen must be among them. 1. Move the hive to one side 2. Put a new floor + new brood box (with drawn frames or foundation and one space) on original site. 3. Inspect the frames for queen-cells and as you do this, gently brush all the bees into the new box on the original site. 4. Select one good unsealed queen- cell (a sealed cell could be empty), preferably at the top of a frame, mark the frame with a pin, and remove ALL other queen-cells from that frame. Brush the bees off it. 5. Place floor on original site; place old box with the frame with the queen-cell along with all the frames with their brood and food (but no bees), minus one frame of brood which you swap for one frame of foundation. Add the super(s) if any. 6. Using a queen excluder, add the new box where you have left all the bees (including therefore the queen), place one old frame with brood and the rest as drawn frames or foundation. 7. Place crown board and roof. 8. Leave overnight. The nurse bees will move up to the top box to cover the brood. Next day, lift off the top box and move it to one side onto its own floor; add crown board and roof. 9. Check both colonies 4 days later and remove any emergency queen cells that may have appeared. 10. Do not disturb the colony with the queen cell until the new queen has had a chance to be mated - approximately three weeks.
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