Swarm in my bee yard

jaseemtp · June 07, 2011, 12:10:09 AM

So today I was out looking at the girls when I noticed bees in one of my pear trees. Lo and behold it was a small swarm. They do not look like any of my bees and I checked on my hives and didnt see any swarm cells or notice a missing a queen. What are the odds that having a bee yard is an attractant to other bees? I have done some open feeding and when I do removals I leave the old comb out for the bees to clean up. So Im certain that the neighborhood riff raff know where I live. So what are the chances they are feral or some one elses bees?

AllenF · June 07, 2011, 12:30:40 AM

What are my bees doing over there? Just send them back home to me if you don't mind. :-D

AllenF · June 07, 2011, 12:34:31 AM

Bee are attracted to other bees. Odds are that they are your bees, but swarms will land where there has been bee activity. I always look in the same tree for another swarm after catching one in the yard because they seem to like the same place.

BjornBee · June 07, 2011, 07:40:16 AM

I would imagine in areas with AHBs, that usurpation could also be a possibility.

Normally the small cluster actually lands on the outside of the hive, then after dark, they march in and take over. I guess having one land nearby the hive would not be out of the question.

jaseemtp · June 07, 2011, 10:31:58 AM

I did get them, they were on a branch about 4 feet off the ground. I had to stack a few things up and place a nuc ontop. Applied a little 1:1 with some HBH in it and BAM almost all of the moved in and started drinking it up as fast as they could. Thats one of the things that makes me think they are not mine. I am feeding my bees 1:1 on all the hives to hlep them build up more comb. These little gals seemed very thirsty.
I did think about AHB since they are in our area, guess time will tell if they stay.

D Coates · June 07, 2011, 10:38:39 AM

I've had swarms show up regularly (1-2 a yr.) in swarm traps in my own back yard where I keep some +/-6 nucs. I've got marked queens in those nucs and all of my hives. I've never caught a swarm with a marked queen. I don't have a clue where they come from but I make sure that they feel right at home when they move in!

Now, the usurpation is something we don't have to deal with up here. I've got enough problems, please be kind enough to keep that down there.. :-D

L Daxon · June 07, 2011, 12:29:55 PM

I've had 3 swarms on my .4 acre in-town lot in the last 9 months. Actually, one landed in my neighbor's tree but I watched it leave my hive, then return in about 15 min.--queen must not have left with them.

I think when they first leave sometimes they will collect real close by and stay for a couple of hours/a day or so before taking off for more distant parts. One small swarm was literally immediately next to the hive, about 4 ft. off the ground in a yupon bush/tree. The other was a large swarm about 10 ft. from the hive, in a blue atlas cedar about 5 ft. off the ground. I hived them both. The small swarm stayed; the the larger one absconded overnight.

schawee · June 07, 2011, 04:06:33 PM

last year i had 7 swarms in one of my beeyards.i have gotten swarms in all 6 of my bee yards this year. ... schawee

L Daxon · June 07, 2011, 04:35:49 PM

Literally as I was typing my post above I got a call to go collect a swarm. I made the mistake of only taking a 5 frame nuc and it turned out to be a huge swarm. Nuc was overflowing with bees. They were high up on someones front porch column. Needed a ladder. Got the girls in the box and as i was leaving after being there about 45 minutes I noticed a small swarm about 5 ft. up in a pear tree about 25 feet away in the same yard. Don't know if it was just some of the fliers/queen off the column that had recollected in the tree or a secondary swarm from the same hive. If I was any good at finding queens I might have been able to tell if I had one queen or two, but I don't have Schawee's eagle eye.

Just brought'em home and am doing a newspaper combine with about 3 frames of bees I had from another small swarm I collected a few weeks ago.

Linda D

jaseemtp · June 07, 2011, 11:13:45 PM

well congratz Idaxon! This is the second swarm I have had in my yard since I started keeping bees this year. I guess this is the party place, where you get 3 square meals and nice place to bunk.