Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: drobbins on April 22, 2019, 01:42:13 PM

Title: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: drobbins on April 22, 2019, 01:42:13 PM
what a wonderful spring so far
I've caught 3 swarms in my backyard by shaking them out of the tree they clustered in into a box and moving them to a stand
last Thursday another one landed in a tree that was too high up to get
I have 3 bait hives setup so I just hoped they'd take a liking to one
they stayed in that tree 4 days, through a nasty wind storm and two days of cold after that
today is warm and sunny and I saw many scouts around a bait hive
sure enough, they're moving in right now

question: how should I move em 100 feet to a stand?
I'm thinking I'll wait till after dark tonight
it's 1:00 PM, I don't imaging they're really gonna get too acclimated to where they are today
I think it's an after swarm from one of the 2 hives I had over winter and it's not very big so they don't need to lose a bunch of bees
worst case I could wait 2 weeks and move em to a friends house, wait a while and move em back but that's a lot of trouble

Ideas??
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: iddee on April 22, 2019, 02:12:07 PM
Move them tonight. While carrying them, turn in a circle 360 degrees 3 or 4 times. It will confuse them enough to know they need to reorient.
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: drobbins on April 22, 2019, 02:16:58 PM
should I make a video of me spinning around in the yard till I get dizzy and fall down? :cool:
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: Waveeater on April 22, 2019, 04:48:04 PM
Yes, do take a video. It also helps to wear a bathing suit and jump up and down as much as possible while carrying the bait hive. It should make for an entertaining video.
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: CoolBees on April 22, 2019, 05:06:51 PM
Yes, and according to Salty, it works well barefoot.  :cheesy:

You guys kill me. [Chuckles]
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: drobbins on April 22, 2019, 05:13:30 PM
ok, you asked for it, here's video!
(no, it's not me spinning around till I fall down)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YivhMxfkvxg&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: BeeMaster2 on April 23, 2019, 10:40:25 AM
Nice catch.
I hope that is only a 6 foot ladder. You do not want to bee climbing down a ladder with a full hive.
Jim Altmiller
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: drobbins on April 23, 2019, 11:53:08 AM
yea, it's a 6 foot step ladder
last night I put a 4 foot step ladder next to it and got em down after putting a strap around it
the platform they were sitting on was kinda flimsy and I wanted to get em off of there
everything went smooth although it was kinda heavy picking it up one handed
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: BeeMaster2 on April 23, 2019, 01:20:24 PM
Now you know why I do not recommend  putting traps above what you can reach.  :grin:
Jim Altmiller
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: drobbins on April 23, 2019, 01:53:02 PM
I'm kinda lazy, I don't even want to climb "up" a ladder with a bait hive :wink:
Title: Re: caught another swarm, need advice
Post by: 2Sox on April 28, 2019, 09:53:16 PM
Quote from: drobbins on April 23, 2019, 01:53:02 PM
I'm kinda lazy, I don't even want to climb "up" a ladder with a bait hive :wink:

Next time, just try a cardboard nuk box for your bait hive. Works the same, just smaller.