Caught a swarm in a flower pot trap this afternoon. Since its my first post I cant post a picture link of trap type. A round trap like a big flowerpot, small hole on front and the back opens up completely if you remove it, and its made of a cardboardish brown material. Its tied into an apple tree. No comb in it, except for what they may have started building in last few hours. Was thinking I should close it up tonight and install into a hive body tomorrow afternoon with some drawn frames that are laying around. Any advice on transferring it to hive body with minimal havoc.
oops, meant caught a swarm 8-)
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Dump them into a hive now. Right now before dark. Put an excluder under the hive bottom so the queen can not leave. You want them to get use to the hive and start building before removing the excluder. If you leave them in the trap you will have to cut out combs that they have started building.
Ok thank you, I have an excluder. If I close up tonight and do it mid morning tomorrow do you think I will have let them build too much comb in trap? I will have an someone around to help tomorrow I have to make some syrup tonight.... spray down frames and leave some feed.
Go dump them in there tonight. Do it in the dark. Use very little light. Bees will fly to the light.
Quote from: AllenF on July 10, 2012, 10:29:44 PM
Go dump them in there tonight. Do it in the dark. Use very little light. Bees will fly to the light.
You can use a red LED light. They have ones that you can clip onto a ball cap. Bees cannot see red and do not react to it.
Jim
If you are uncertain whether you have a mated queen or not make certain you remove the excluder two days after you have shook the swarm. If you leave it on too long and she's a virgin you run the risk of her not being able to be mated properly. Could wind up with a drone layer. You don't have to shake them into a new set up the same day or even the next but I wouldn't wait too much longer than that.
...JP
Thanks all. Ended up waiting it out until this morning... a friend was interested so I waited. Maybe a bad move, there was more comb than I had imagined. The comb from trap fell in when I dumped the swarm, nothing seemed capped, and the cells were not too deep. It leaned up against the side of box, fit pretty good where 10th frame should have gone so I left it out. If it goes well I was going to clean out the comb and put in the frame in a week or so once they are working on frames. Some bees are hanging by the entrance, some still buzzing around. Guess I'll keep an eye on it for a few days.
If they are bringing in pollen may that be an indication that the queen is mated and looking to lay eggs? I noticed some coming into the trap before I closed it today and dumped it into hive. Never closed the trap last night, they were bearding until late. Installed them in hive under the trap and they all seem to be finding their way to hive.
Too check for a mated queen, look for eggs in the new comb. Hard to see on new wax. Just how much comb was in the trap and when do you think the swarm moved in?
Thought I saw the end of them moving into trap yesterday afternoon around 3pm. Transfered them them to hive around 10 am this morning. The total size of the comb was just about the beginnings of a medium foundation. Looked like the cells too shallow, but the cells were building up. There were a good amount of bees, about the same size as a bought package. Trap was empty yesterday morning, been dabbing the entrance with lemongrass oil for about a week each morning. Witnessed one of my hives swarming on the the 4th of July which ended up high in a tree and then disappeared the next morning. They left behind an active hive. And a couple of other new beeks in the neighborhood are swarming also lately. All new packages as of this year with 2 deeps for hive bodys.