last september i got 4 or 5 calls about swarms and i'm sure they were hives that just gave up and left after beetle infestations. i wasn't geared up to take them but it did motivate me to start keeping bees again.
this year i'm going to assume it will happen again. the problem is that i don't have any drawn comb to spare.
how would everybody else handle this.
i suppose i could do some extremely late season splits and try to nurse these bees through the winter of i could combine them into existing hives after i find and destroy their queens. any other suggestions? goldenrod plays out in late september or early november and then it's over til the maples start up in late january.
Put them on foundation and feed overwinter them as nucs. Overwintered nucs explode when the Maples start blooming.
10framer...I only had the luxury of one (yes, 1) frame of drawn comb to use this year, and swarm season was pretty crazy. After a few early losses, I began shaking swarms into buckets then hiving them with frames and wired wax foundation on the spot. I let them find Momma, and inevitably they would all be in, or at least had located the hive within an hour. I would return after dark, close up the hive, and relocate. I made sure they had a bit of time to settle down, and re-opened the hive before going to bed. They woke up in the morning, and re-oriented. Never lost a swarm since. Drawn comb would be awesome, but not mandatory. Good luck getting those swarms!!! :bee:
i'm talking about bees that abscond in september. we have our first frost in october. i don't think they can start on foundation that late in the season.
i've hived plenty of swarms on foundation in spring with no problems. i've never had a swarm pull out once i caught it and i'm surprised how often i read about it happening.
I bet that they would be able to draw out enough comb to winter. Your temps don't drop below 60F till the last of October correct? Feed them 2:1 and see what happens. If they don't then I would consider combining.
well, now that i'm prepared for it it probably won't even happen again this year. i'm thinking i'll put them in 5 frame nucs and give them a frame of brood each and the rest in foundation.