How long?

[OK Wildlife Control]

How long does it truly take for a swarm to set up a 12 comb condo in the exposed eve of a house entry way. We got a call from Fort Worth about it ... and the contractor told me that one day it was not there ... and the next it was.

[Bill W.]

Depends on the size of the swarm and the size of the combs.  In my experience, it takes a large healthy colony about a day to produce a full, deep-sized comb - and the speed of production declines after that first comb to something more like two days.  Assuming a typical arrangement where there are a couple of long combs in the middle, getting progressively shorter to either side, I'd guess a really strong swarm could produce twelve combs in two weeks.

Of course, I live where the bees can't be very active at night.  If you have warm nighttime temperatures, I'd guess they could crank the comb out more quickly.

[JP]

I know for a fact this one was 8 days old



...JP

[BoBn]

I love swarms!  They are on a mission.  And they know what to do.   I hived 3 swarms on May 15 on undrawn foundation & foundationless frames.  I just added another super to each of these.  :)
They were running out of room!

[Robo]

Reg,

I would think it was more than one day,  but would not say it was impossible.

This one was 10 days old.

[JP]

Quote from OK "How long does it truly take for a swarm to set up a 12 comb condo in the exposed eve of a house entry way. We got a call from Fort Worth about it ... and the contractor told me that one day it was not there ... and the next it was."

If I had to lay money on the table with one good guess as the age of that colony/comb I would say its been there no less than four days but it looks like it could have been there a week or more, so my best guess is, to pick one number, my final vote is 7 days.

Of course it all boils down to size of swarm, genetics and resources.


...JP

[patook]

I assume you did not drive down here from Tulsa, so what did you do? Have you already contacted someone local?