What to do after you capture a swarm

[BeeMaster2]

What Iddee said. If you wait much longer than that, a good swarm will have a nuc completely full.
Jim

[tycrnp]

Oh wow! Really?!  Thanks for the info.

[tycrnp]

Well we went and retrieved our first trap.  All went well.  They are in the back yard sleeping.  What is the best time of day to transfer them to a hive? 

[cao]

If your trap is near where your hive will be then anytime during the day when the foragers are out is when I would do the transfer.  The foragers will come back to a new home.

[tycrnp]

If your trap is near where your hive will be then anytime during the day when the foragers are out is when I would do the transfer.  The foragers will come back to a new home.

Good deal. I can do it right after work.  We had to wait until 8pm - well after sunset to retrieve the trap because they were still bringing the pollen home!

[tycrnp]

So we put the 2nd swarm into a hive.  The swarm is HUGE!  I transferred 6 frames from the trap to the hive. ALL of them had comb on them, almost covered on both sides with lots of honey.  (They were in there less than 1 week.)  I put them in 1 brood box and 1 super.  There are still probably 1000 bees sitting in the trap in front of the hive.  When do I add another brood box or super?  It seems very crowded.

[BeeMaster2]

Add another super when they fill 80% of the frames in the top box.
Jim

[jtcmedic]

That's a nice swarm

[tycrnp]

Thanks!

[Waveeater]

I have only been beekeeping for 3 years but I have been very fortunate and have not lost a swarm yet that actually went into my traps. I've caught 9 this year. I use old 10 frame deeps and 8 frame mediums. (More luck with the deeps), I use a combination of old dark pulled comb and some newer frames they can pull. Like most I put them 10-15 feet up if possible on bee travel routes I have observed and in and around fruit trees. I will leave the swarm alone for 5-7 days before moving them and I always move them more than 5 miles from the catch sight. I move them at night once the bees are all home, and then re-box them 3-5 days later. I usually add a frame of honey and brood from another hive unless they already have eggs or larve of their own and keep them tight for awhile to prevent wax moths from slipping in. Good luck.

[tycrnp]

So both swarms are in hives. They are building comb, storing and capping honey.  The 1st one has a couple of frames with capped brood cells, so I know the queen is there.  I checked the 2nd hive today, they've only been in the hive 4 - 5 days.  I pulled out 1 frame that had numerous queen cells near the top and in the center of the frame, 8 still capped.  Thoughts?  Recommendations?

[Acebird]

I hope you were gentle.  That is a fragile stage of queen development.

[tycrnp]

I was. Should I be worried that they are going to swarm?

[BeeMaster2]

That sounds like a supercedure to me. It is not uncommon for a Primary swarm to replace the queen shortly after they swarm. The good thing is that you should end up with a mother and the daughter laying eggs in the hive. It can be really good for the hive if there is enough bees and drawn comb available.
Jim

[KeyLargoBees]

A swarm in a trap has made the "decision" to be there and they will typically not be abscond candidates....its the swarms you capture and force into a box that are more likely to run off....with that said I have lost a swarm or two from traps at the transfer stage....when they go nuts and cross comb everything and you have to perform a cutout to get them set right when you move them from the trap to a permanent box they tend to take offense and I find those situations they are the absolute most likely to abscond....after losing some I now throw a queen excluder under the brood box to keep the queen in but allow her to do her thing...once they have open brood I remove the excluder.

[tycrnp]

Thanks for the info.  I feel much better!

[FlexMedia.tv]

Jealous!
2nd yr. beekeeper. I built a trap and set it. Now the waiting game. I went with old brown frame comb with a little bit of honey comb and a store bought attractant. It's been a week. Thanks for your post. I'll keep an eye on it. *wink!*