On Sunday, I got a very unexpected email and phone call! It was from the man who told me about the last swarm that I caught (see the blog entry about catching a swarm in 15 minutes). He had another smaller swarm (which turned out to be a cast). And it was in EXACTLY THE SAME PLACE!
I went round on early Monday morning and scooped the cast into a box. It was raining and the bees clung to each other like treacle. Because I had done it before – and the bees were so accessible, I think this time it took even less than 15 minutes! Probably more like 10!
Anyway, Monday was a rainy day and that evening we returned to pick up the nucleus box.
This morning, I met up with an old friend and gave her the cast as her (only) hive had gone queenless. When she put the cast into her hive (she has a Dartington Long Hive with two sides to it) – she found that the colony was no longer queenless but that the queen has started laying. Oh well!
Bee Lore 
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