I caught a swarm yesterday(Friday) in the rain on my way home from work. I'm not sure how long it had been since they swarmed but I assume they did on Wednesday, only because it was cold and rainy Thursday. It has been raining steady since then with 50 deg. temps. I only have a boardman feeder and they aren't drinking from it. What should I do to get them some food? How long will they last without eating? I have them in a single deep super with new foundation. Please advise!
if you have frame of honey, give them,or if you have drawn frame, fill them them with heavy sugar water and give them. if you do not even have drawn frames, then give sugar water with a jar or with a jar. they only have food for up to 3 days with them when swarm
are they flying and do you have a nectar flow right now? just because it's raining, doesn't mean they are not flying.
With all new foundation, they're probably clustering at the top of the hive and that's why you may not be seeing a lot of activity at the entrance. You could try feeding with a baggie, but you might need a spacer. This would get the food closer to the bees and they should take it better.
Looks like you have better temperatures later this week. You should see more bees at your entrance feeder then, I would think.