Hi, I'm in the south San Francisco Bay Area in Northern CA. Is there a drop dead date for introducing a swarm to my hive that's all setup and beeless?
you have moderate temps. if they are swarming, you are ok to set it up. late swarms may require feeding, but other than that you should be good.
Yes, but it definitely is not too late yet. You can introduce them anytime prior to the end of fall flow, in my opinion, as long as you are willing to feed like mad during dearth or after fall flow to make up the difference. Others here on the forum who live in your area can tell you when the fall flow is/how long it runs.
In NC, I have done a split including frames of honey in the last week of June (right in the beginning of our long dearth here) and, without feeding, brought them through the winter. This year that same hive tripled in size in 2 months and provided me another two 7-frame splits last week.
I hived a small swarm Sept. 6 last year, gave it a couple of frames of brood from the parent hive, fed pretty heavily in the fall and kept it on a covered porch over the winter and it has already thrown off a huge swarm this year.
Thanks for all your help!
Hi Pete
I'm in Placerville north of Sacramento. We are getting a lot of swarm calls now, so it is definitely not to late to hive them. I am feeding two small swarms right now and they are building up great. We have lots of warm, warm weather coming and for a long, long time.
Good luck
annette
Hi Annette, Thanks. I just got (Tuesday) a swarm that settled in a nuc box with just one frame in it. i transferred the frame and all the bees to my 10 frame box. Can I safely remove the frame in a few days and return it with the box to it's owner? Thanks for whatever you can tell me.
You should probably give that frame back right away before the bees start to place eggs, pollen and nectar in that frame. As long as you are using foundation in your frames (as opposed to using foundationless frames), you can remove that frame now and give it back to the owner.
If that frame is all drawn out (I am assuming) then the bees have probably started to use that frame for storage. I think it will be fine to remove that frame, but do it fast.
Hope this helps
Annette