Captured Small Swarm

[Two Bees]

Late yesterday, I caught a small swarm in my beeyard that was about 2/3 the size of a football.  I boxed the swarm in a five frame nuc and attached a "queen includer" on the front.  I went into the nuc early this afternoon to remove the small limb that I put into the nuc along with the swarm.  Everything looked good.

Just now (about 5:00PM), I noticed that there were 20-25 workers moving on the front of the nuc entrance where the queen includer is attached along with the queen.  The queen couldn't get through the includer due to the spacing.

Since this was a small swarm, I'm thinking it's a secondary swarm.  I didn't see a larger swarm yesterday.

Question:  If this is a secondary swarm, could the queen be trying to go on her mating flight OR is the small swarm trying to swarm again?

 

[dean0]

Two Bees
A virgin queen can pass through a queen excluder.  It is only after she has mated that she can no longer pass through the excluder.  So if you had a virgin queen, I could see where she might have escaped and could be going on her mating flight.

Are you sure you captured the queen yesterday?  It is a good idea if you find the queen in the swarm to put her in a queen catcher and leave her in the queen catcher between 2 frames inside the hive for a few days to give the swarm an opportunity to get used to their new home.  The swarm will not leave without the queen.

Are you sure you didn't release the queen when you went into the hive to retrieve the small limb? Maybe she was trying to get back in.

If the swarm does not like the home you provided, there is a good possibility they could be trying to swarm again.

Good Luck!

[Two Bees]

Thanks, Dean!

I built several queen includers by cutting up a single metal queen excluder and building a wooden frame around them.  Just like the ones that you can buy from Brushy. 

I captured the swarm about 7:00PM last night and hived it in a five frame nuc.  Early this morning, I placed the includer on the nuc.  About 1:00PM today, I opened the nuc up to remove the pine branch and to put a 5th frame of drawn comb in the nuc.  All of the workers appeared to be very calm.  I didn't even use a veil, gloves, or anything.  Not even a smoker.  I inspected the frames that were already in the nuc and found the queen.  She was just moving around the frame doing what she does.

About 5:00PM today, I noticed 20-25 workers on the front of the nuc, working in and out of the includer.  Some of the workers were on the inside, some were on the outside, and some were flying in front of the nuc.  They were not excited, just trying to help the queen get through the bars.  I saw the queen walking back and forth on the inside of the includer.  It was obvious that she was trying to find a way out.  But she couldn't.

About 7:30PM, I noticed that the queen had gone back into the hive (or had escaped).  I don't think she escaped because it appeared that most of the workers were still in the nuc.

But I agree with you, I don't think she's a virgin.  But then again, I would have thought the primary swarm would have been larger.  Thoughts?

[Brian D. Bray]

In your neck of the woods it is probably a secondary swarm give the size quoted.  But it is about the right size for a primary feral swarm.
Many feral colonies don't have more than the room within a standard deep, and often the size of a deep nuc, for their hive.  These hives throw off as many as a dozen swarms of soccer ball size, or slightly smaller, over the course of a spring and summer.