HELP ME!!!! BEES SWARMED, I CAUGHT THEM, BUT THEY WENT BACK AND SWARMED

Started by Ocean, June 06, 2009, 03:34:00 PM

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Ocean

Today i came to the yard and witnessed my strong hive swarming (silly me didn't add enough honey supers for this season, they filled everything up after i opened it) So they swarmed and i decided to put them in another new HIVE body. In this body i included some frames with honey. I caught the swarm by cutting the branch and shook them all in the box. Within 15 minutes most of them again started taking off and now i have another swarm in the same place on a bigger branch. :( what did i do wrong? what should i do? please help. I'm located in North Jersey.

Ocean

Right now i'm in the process of making this Swarm Catch box which is pictured here: http://kittbo.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-build-swarm-catching-box.html

Hopefully this works.. please tell me what i did wrong on my first attempt to catch the swarm?

Thank you everyone. any advice is needed ..

charmd2

sometimes they are intent on leaving,  It is a good idea to put a queen includer in the box  (an excluder between the hive body itsself and the entrance, to seal the queen in for the night. 

A frame of open brood helps them stay as well.  They don't like to abandon brood. 

But it may just be they felt they were to close to the parent colony.   I've heard it helps to move them a few miles away for a week or so before moving them back, but I've never tried it. 

Charla Hinkle

TwT

put them in the new box with a frame of brood, queen excluder between the hive body and the bottom board and they should do fine, I wouldn't move them from your yard, after about 4-5 days inspect and remove the queen excluder.
THAT's ME TO THE LEFT JUST 5 MONTHS FROM NOW!!!!!!!!

Never be afraid to try something new.
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