Dustbin Swarm.

I collected my dustbin of bees this yesterday evening but had not anticipated just how much wet soil there was in the bin. It was as much as I could manage to lift it into the back of the car, it only being made possible by the creative use of a wheelie bin lying on its side; at least I was confident that it wouldn't move about in the car while I was driving. I did take a quick peek under the lid and realised that that there weren't a lot of bees - but didn't say anything to the donor. Those that are there are much darker than any that I have at the apiary so I was keen to give my best effort to get them through the winter.

This afternoon, I took the lid off the bin and found it quite disappointing but removed the comb anyway and fitted it into two hive frames with elastic bands. Most people use thin wire, 3 amp fuse is a good choice, but I couldn't find any. It happened that the elastic bands worked better anyway; the final step was to give them some drawn comb so that they wouldn't need to make any wax, they have neither the time nor the population to build enough comb before winter. The Blip is of the bees that were still in the bin climbing up and rejoining their friends which was a pleasing sight.

Ten minutes later, thousands of bees appeared, obviously pirates intent on stealing all the assets that the small colony had; while the robbers would be disappointed – the colony had neither food stores nor brood – the invaders persisted until it was dark and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it until then when I could shut the front door and give them some sugar syrup. I am writing this a week later so can give you an update; they were shut in for 36 hours before I tentatively opened the front door when they burst forth and set about their business and, to date, the robbers haven't returned.

Checking on them a week later, I found that they have settled in and stored a fair amount of syrup and nectar, but there was no sign of any brood – or the queen. The workers were doing a lot of running around, which isn't a good sign, though none of this is conclusive evidence that there isn't a queen. Although I would expect to find her in a colony this small, if she hasn't settled into a routine yet, then she'll be difficult to spot as she runs around, and the workers running will make it worse. It's a case of hope for the best but expect the worst and remember that I nurtured a “lost cause” through the winter a few years back and two of my other four colonies are progeny of that queen.