Caught a swarm today!! Cannot feed

[annette]

So I caught a swarm today and hived them, but I do not have any sugar syrup ready to give them until Saturday.  Will they be ok with feeding until then?? I gave them 6 drawn out combs and 4 foundationless combs.

I know they have all this honey in their belly's so can they live off of that for a while??  Is it really necessary to feed a swarm during a flow and we have one going on now?

Thanks for the help

Annette

[FRAMEshift]

They will be fine if there is a flow on.  You solved most of their problems when you gave them drawn comb.  

[Finski]

.
To feed swarms with sugar is just a way to save honey and give cheap sugar instead. It has nothing to do with surviving of the colony.

To draw foundation of langstroth box  consumes about 6 kg sugar of honey.

[montauk170]

Annette, I caught many swarms since March and haven't fed a thing. They have drawn out about 8 full frames of mediums already and full of brood, honey, and pollen.
Our flow has been strong and now it's citrus bloom time!

[BjornBee]

annette,
As long as there isn't 3-4 days of rain after you put them in a box, they should be fine.

Bees always seek cavities that give them the greatest advantage for survival. Afterall, very few first year swarms make it on their own when starting new. One of the things they seek is a place previously used, with comb if available. Having comb is a big boost.

I do try to have a frame of honey (I have a few from deadouts) in each box as I catch a swarm. And I will feed if I have syrup. Afterall, few swarms will actually build and survive (here anyways) without some additional help. Not even sure about the "cheap syrup" and "saving honey" comments.

You do what you can. Now...they may not need much. Later, you may be feeding swarms as it will be another 25-30 days until they have brood hatch and bee populations will go up. By that time, population will have have shrunk, the main flow may be over, and the swarm may not reach a point where survival is guaranteed without your assistance. And I personally have no plans to let 90% of the caught swarms die as they do around here when left to their own.

Good luck.

[JP]

I always offer a swarm a frame of honey or sugar syrup. You may not know the entire history of that swarm you just caught and they may be hungry and have less honey in their honey stomachs than you might think.

Case in point: You get a call for a swarm on a tree branch that two days prior was half way down the street on another tree but the day before fell from a small sapling.

These bees need to be fed and would greatly appreciate your assistance!


...JP

[AllenF]

I wouldn't worry about it.   In the wild, the swarm would not have gotten any syrup.    But the bees really enjoy every little bit of help they can get nowadays.

[annette]

I'll be feeding them tomorrow, the first available chance I have had.


Thanks for all the responses to my post and I always learn so much from asking such simple questions.

I appreciate all the responses.

Annete

[jaseemtp]

I have been catching swarms this month and while I do not have honey or drawn comb to give them. I have offered them syrup.  If they need it they take it.

[Brian D. Bray]

If a swarm is hive shortly after leaving the hive, give a frame or 2 of drawn comb, and placed in a box that will adequately hold all of the bees with a little room to spare, the bees will deposit the honey they are carrying into the combs and set up house keeping, repairing the combs, egg laying etc.
If the same swarm were placed on nothing but foundation, they will use most of the honey they carry to begin drawing comb.  Then a little syrup might be needed.
I usually feed a package 1 gallon of syrup to start them off, along with a drawn comb or two.  Swarms I just give a couple of drawn combs.  The exception is when the package or swarm is hived during an extended period of rain, unseasonably low temps, or drought.  Then extra feeding may be warranted after a week of no weather change.
 
There are at least 2 times a year when feeding bees syrup is not needed and should actually be discouraged:  When the fruit trees are in bloom and when the blackberries bloom.  The fruit tree bloom is followed by wild and cultivated ornimental flowers and blackberries are follwed by Kudzu. 

If you don't like the flavor of Dudzu honey pull your supers at the tail end of the blackberry bloom and let the bees keep the kudzu for winter stores.