Assisted with catching a swarm this afternoon, question is is it possible for the swarm to contain two queen’s? I removed the small branch which they were on and we removed the bulk of the bees in a Nuc. Now bees stayed in and were happily going in the entrance but noticed another small swarm gathering back on a branch close by to the original swarm. It was removed also and we bagged it up.
Thoughts
Pictures below
Original swarm
Swarm in Nuc
Second swarm that formed
Yes, actually Hilary Kearney of www.girlnextdoorhoney.com in San Diego, US, has documented (photos and video) a swarm with more than 10 queens. Most of the queens were being balled (attacked and overheated by workers) to kill them off, but they were all in the same swarm.
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Yes. Sometimes you find a dozen queens in a swarm.
Huber documented it in 1791.
Learn something new everyday.