Yesterday I split a hive (agro bees - whole story in itself) The bees were so aggressive by the time I got into the brood box I just grabbed the first frame - checked it for brood and lava and it also had 3 queen cells - I killed two and stuck that in a Nuc etc. Seeing a random frame had 3 queen cells I was not surprised today to see a swarm gathering in one of the trees in our little orchard where the hives are located.
I suited up and grabbed an empty nuc with some foundation frames and tried to shake the swam into the box. Some would go in the rest would fly around and regather on the branch - 3 attempts later I went and got some large clippers and cut the branch off and trimmed it a bit but still too big to go in the nuc so I just laid it across the top and about an hour later they had moved in.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p160x160/11043282_10152681675861724_2387318210188708297_n.jpg?oh=3f28702ceec9df0f3e4a4a4276f60e04&oe=5575F390&__gda__=1435787051_1a877a900cd99173447ebef7051a0004)
Thanks for sharing.
gww
Last night I moved the box to a more suitable location about 20 meters away. I blocked the entrance and added two more foundation frames and thought I'd leave them a couple of days but this morning I was concerned about ventilation as there wasn't any. You can see from the photo that the "lid" is more of an upside down bottom board and with the entrance blocked there is no air circulation. So this morning I opened the hive with a leafy branch across the entrance actually sitting on the landing. As the bees came out they crawled then hovered over the leaves then started to fly in a widening spiral directly up over the hive for about 20 feet. Some flew off some came back and went back inside. Two flew in a horizontal plane in a widening circle like arms of a galaxy until one found me standing there and "bounced" me so I left. Think they have settled in.
Congrats on catching your first swarm. One thing I do and I recommend to anyone who'll listen is to get a frame of open brood from another hive, and give it a quick rap to knock all the bees off. Use that frame in whatever you're putting the swarm into. They'll instantly lock onto those larva and it anchors them from leaving if they don't 100% like the accommodations. Little is as depressing as going to review the landing board activity of a freshly hived swarm (that you spent time and money to get to) only to realize that they've left.
Good going. Makes you feel good, proud and so excited. May you catch many more.
Joe
Congratulations on the first swarm. Just a hint...when you shake them from a branch, the pheromones are still on the branch for bees in the air to return to. Kinda confusing. cut the branch down and put it by the box. If that isn't an option, smoke the branch really good, or spray bee repellent on it.
Exciting stuff...great read, good pic...appreciate your sharing...keep us updated.
You get swarms in March? Is that a Qld/Norther Aus thing?
Quote from: Richard M on March 03, 2015, 04:25:48 PM
You get swarms in March? Is that a Qld/Norther Aus thing?
Must be - we don't have seasons just wet and dry - guess they swarm when they run out of room and after a long spell of rain. A hive increases by about 3000 a week so if they are kept indoors for a week or so and can't fly things could get tight enough to think of moving