I walked up to the bee yard today and saw a very low amount of foragers at Hive 1. I cracked the top cover and there was very little bees on the frames. I knew what had happened... They swarmed. I was looking around trees in the area and was disappointed when i couldn't find the ball of my bees. So I grabbed my gear to go into the hive to make sure they weren't going to super swarm and heard a loud buzzing as I was going to light my smoker. I looked up and saw a bunch of bees flying around. I look on the other side of the trailer and there it was, a huge ball of bees. I ran and grabbed a box from my house and ran back. I shook the bees into the box but there was a large amount on the ground so I put the box nearby and they marched in. I took the box of about 40,000 bees and dumped them into the top bar hive I had sitting around. They were fanning and I saw a queen on the front porch and helped her in. I went in to the hive that swarmed and destroyed 4 queen cells. There was two queens on one of the frames I checked and I swiped one of the queens off. As far as I know there are 2 queen cells and a virgin queen in Hive 1. Rose Hive is still going good and now has more foragers than Hive 1. Welcome to the bee yard Hive 3!
Nice catch. It will be interesting to see if they stay. I have had limited luck. Lately I lock the queen in for few days for swarms I catch like that.
Quote from: ed/La. on July 06, 2019, 10:21:05 PM
Nice catch. It will be interesting to see if they stay. I have had limited luck. Lately I lock the queen in for few days for swarms I catch like that.
I would lock it in my my entrance reducer is being used on a other hive. I hope they stay
I use the plastic round tubes they sell to lock queen in.The hair clip shaped ones work fine. In a day or two they have settled in and then I release the queen.
I?ve only once (out of three) had the bees move back out of the new brood box, they just all moved back into the box I left under the branch they had bunched on.
I just put them all back into the hive that evening.
They are doing good. I love how the swarm hives build comb.
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Quote from: Sledin on July 07, 2019, 10:45:25 AM
I?ve only once (out of three) had the bees move back out of the new brood box, they just all moved back into the box I left under the branch they had bunched on.
I just put them all back into the hive that evening.
They are doing good. I love how the swarm hives build comb.
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Once out of 3 that is a third of the time. That is a lot. Also swarms from your own apiary move a 1/2 mile or more away. They don't swarm and move into box 20 ft. away.
Quote from: ed/La. on July 07, 2019, 12:07:21 PM
Quote from: Sledin on July 07, 2019, 10:45:25 AM
I?ve only once (out of three) had the bees move back out of the new brood box, they just all moved back into the box I left under the branch they had bunched on.
I just put them all back into the hive that evening.
They are doing good. I love how the swarm hives build comb.
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Once out of 3 that is a third of the time. That is a lot. Also swarms from your own apiary move a 1/2 mile or more away. They don't swarm and move into box 20 ft. away.
A swarm is the period between leaving a hive and finding a new hive. They might rehive a 1/2 mile away, but a swarm will often hang out close the the original hive until the scouts find a new permanent hive.
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Quote from: ed/La. on July 07, 2019, 08:23:38 AM
I use the plastic round tubes they sell to lock queen in.The hair clip shaped ones work fine. In a day or two they have settled in and then I release the queen.
Ill probably use a bit of fabric or a wood block to block them in.
Update: Added a frame of brood from Queen Rose's hive to the hive that swarmed. The swarm hive has a lot of activity out front and i'm assuming orientation flights. Queen Rose will need another box here soon