Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: hardtime on May 24, 2008, 09:36:29 PM

Title: ? about swarms
Post by: hardtime on May 24, 2008, 09:36:29 PM
a swarm that comes out and  goes hight up in a tree  like to hight to get to in anyway . will thay leave ? or swarm again and come down and land low ? or what.
Title: Re: ? about swarms
Post by: JP on May 24, 2008, 09:52:16 PM
Quote from: hardtime on May 24, 2008, 09:36:29 PM
a swarm that comes out and  goes hight up in a tree  like to hight to get to in anyway . will thay leave ? or swarm again and come down and land low ? or what.

Sorry, not sure if I follow. Could you repeat the question?


...JP
Title: Re: ? about swarms
Post by: hardtime on May 24, 2008, 10:34:41 PM
swarms that come out of hive and land hight up in a tree.that you can not get.will thay take flate again and land lower to the ground?
Title: Re: ? about swarms
Post by: Brian D. Bray on May 24, 2008, 11:07:29 PM
Usually when a swarm moves it's going to it's selected sight so chances of it moving down are slim to none.  If you have a high swarm the best you can do is set out a hive with some drawn comb and lemon grass oil and hope they choose your bait hive over anyother option.  That works out to about 50-50.
Title: Re: ? about swarms
Post by: JP on May 25, 2008, 12:27:50 AM
Brian is pretty much right on, I've only observed swarm clusters swarm again and regroup nearby a few different times, they usually say, 99% of the time leave to go to the new site they pick to call their new home.

Now these are the ones I've seen with my own eyes swarm not very far to regroup from the original cluster. Sometimes I get calls where they checked out a spot, in fact apparently decided on that spot, swarmed to it, but then changed their mind for whatever reason, and then moved on.

I do get a handful of these types of calls each season. Scott Derrick had one like this at a movie theater not too long ago. The movie people shut a particular screen down for two days.

When he got there they had regrouped and moved on.


...JP
Title: Re: ? about swarms
Post by: Michael Bush on May 25, 2008, 11:34:39 AM
Usually when they leave they are gone.  To get them down, try shooting the branch at the base of the tree (not the swarm) with a 12 gauge.  I haven't tried it but some say using a mirror to shine the sun on them will cause them to move down.  A bait hive with lemongrass oil could be used and you might get lucky and get them to move in.  I usually use a pole with a five gallon bucket on the end to get them if I can reach:

http://www.beeequipment.com/products.asp?pcode=270

Title: Re: ? about swarms
Post by: Moonshae on May 25, 2008, 07:47:54 PM
Quote from: Michael Bush on May 25, 2008, 11:34:39 AM
To get them down, try shooting the branch at the base of the tree (not the swarm) with a 12 gauge.

HAHA! That would get me arrested!
Title: Re: ? about swarms
Post by: Michael Bush on May 25, 2008, 11:11:46 PM
>That would get me arrested!

Some places.  Yes.  Not at my house.  No.