Settling E Hive for the Autumn

E Hive, the swarm from Barton, has been in a Nucleus box for nearly a month. That was too long so today I put them into a full hive.

I hadn't meant for it to take so long but they were getting on fine. There were plenty of bees; they were foraging; they had brood. Also, I didn't have a serviceable box. I glued; I hammered; I rearranged other hives. Now they have a National Brood, floor with Varroa screen, roof and an innovation.

I came back some time after the move of frames into the new box. There was a suspicious cluster of bees still in the nucleus box. Was there a Queen in the cluster? I couldn't tell. I opened up the main box and gave a hefty bang on the nuc. Most of the bees went in.

I suspect that the Queen had run off the combs whilst trying to hide. She doesn't like being in the light and so usually hides. I suspect that, when the last frame was moved over, she stayed. I hope that she's now in the hive. We'll see how they settle in.