wrote on May 13, 2019
at
10:25 pm
Regarding episode 155 (Puddle Swarm):
I caught a dry "puddle" swarm a few years ago. I poked my finger into the swarm looking for the queen. Somehow, I found her in less than a minute and put her in a cage. I put the cage on the top bar of a frame in a nuc. Her daughters promptly marched/flew into the nuc. My guess is that the ol' lady was too tired/heavy fly and settled onto the ground with her entourage following.
I suspect that the queen in your puddle warm did the same thing.
BTW, that queen worked out great, producing tons of very gentle and productive daughters.