Do you keep Italian bees? Or the Asian? What type of bees do you have? Our son, who lives in North Pole, Alaska keep bees as well. He said his bees have twice swarmed away, because he didn't take as good care of them as he did last year. He said there are some bees that have a propensity to swarm. Also, were the bees just "gone" or were there dead bees lying around? Just wondering. Thanks for your time, if you can answer all of my questions. Oh, yeah. He also said that other bees can "invade" the hives.