Update - Artificial Swarms

A quick update on the small cluster of bees that insisted on staying under the hive- after I had scooped them into the nucleus box and left them overnight, they were still there the next day! I put a feeder over them and dribbled a bit of syrup over them to encourage them - after all these bees had been out in the rain and wind for quite a while. They were clustered in the top corner of the nuc- not much bigger than a tennis ball and probably will come to nothing because I can't imagine a queen is in there with them, but I don't like to just abandon them. The weather has been awful- a yellow warning of heavy rain - so we are still trying to check the last hive at Cordwood , the others had shown signs of swarming so we are prepared with plenty of equipment, hopefully the weather will hold them back so we will be able to sort them out. We still also have to check the old brood boxes from the artificial swarms to make sure they only have one good queen cell, otherwise they may be tempted to cast with the virgin queens. So, plenty to do but we are waiting for the weather to give us an opening!