Bees will not go back into hive and don't want to leave the hive

Beekeeping - Basics
21

There are a bazillion ants around the base. You need to get rid of them before the bees will settle. I have lost hives to ants in the past, so this is important stuff. I would suggest inverted ant moats under the hive with grease, as some other forum members have done.

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22

sadly it is my feeling that the bees have lost their queen along the way in the process- the way they are forming two separate lumps on the hive indicates to me bees that have no queen to unify them into a nice cluster. I have seen queenless swarms like that that do not form a good cluster. Also the number of bees has decreased significantly throughout this process. Perhaps some of them joined the other hive- I hope so.

I suggested condensing them all down into a nuc with a frame of eggs from the good hive- and hopefully Thorpie has done that by now? If so has it caused the bees to finally go back in?

This entire situation has been really odd and one for the books. Its a real shame as it was such a nice fat Nuc to start with. I know that Thorpie has made herculean efforts to correct the weirdness and has had a trial by fire start to his beekeeping journey. If this colony ends up being lost it will not be for want of a helping hand from the beekeeper.

I am still entirely perplexed by whatever it was that initially caused them to reject that lovely- well painted and set up brand new flow hive? It’s a mystery.

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23

I would put them back in the nuc box for now, they seemed happy there.
I would never use honey as an attractant. Comb with brood is much more potent and you have that.
Do you know anything about the queen status of the hive? Presumably she has left the hive and is in the cluster as shes hardly alone inside??
Might the queen be clipped ?

24

Hi Jack, there’s nothing to be perplexed about. There’s just something inside the lovely- well painted and set up brand new flow hive that the bees simply don’t like. I gave a solution as to what I would do. I don’t feel perplexed or puzzled by the bee’s behavior in this chain of events.
cheers

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25

This is an old one but did you figure it out ? Mine did this today …. With the queen also so I put her in a cage and back in the hive