Caught my First Swarm - Sort of... (Question)

[jerry1818]

Hi All!
It's my second year beekeeping. First year I had one hive that went weak into the winter and died. This spring I'm trying two hives (started from packages this Spring). I had a swarm trap up in the crotch of a tree about 50' from my hives. It got no interest last year, but just recently I found what appeared to be a decent sized swarm hanging under the trap. I watched them for a bit and decided that they had no intention to go in the trap, so I got cardboard box and swept them in by hand. That's when I realized there was comb inside the ball of bees. Five combs with the biggest about 6" in diameter. I had already made a mess of it, so I just swept everything into the box. Then I dumped it all (including the broken comb) into a five frame nuc with two frames missing, and the other three frames with old comb. Went back up the tree and swept the rest of the bees into the cardboard box and then laid that next to the nuc at the base of the tree. I watched all the bees march into the nuc, so I assumed I had the queen.

I checked on them a couple of hours later and they seemed to be coming and going as if they were home. By evening they seemed settle in, but in the morning they were gone. I walked over to my hives and there was an unusual frenzy of airborne activity, and in 30 seconds I was stung on the neck and chased away - also unusual. When I went back later that day, everything seemed back to normal.

I had checked my hives five days prior to all this - no swarm cells, plenty of room (recently added supers), so I don't think I caught my own swarm. I checked the trap the same day and didn't see anything. So in five days they had built quite a bit of comb under the trap.

Now the questions. 
If the smell of the trap attracted them, why did they build comb outside the trap? Could I have done something wrong to encourage that?

Do you think they were my bees I caught?

Did they leave in the morning because of the mess I made of their hive? I wouldn't stay in a hotel that treated me like that!

Could they have merged with my bees, or maybe they attempted to rob my hives?

Thanks - Jerry

[cao]

Welcome 

>If the smell of the trap attracted them, why did they build comb outside the trap? Could I have done something wrong to encourage that?

Did you use lemongrass oil or some other attractant?  Too much of it could cause them not to go inside.

>Do you think they were my bees I caught?

From what you posted, probably not.

>Did they leave in the morning because of the mess I made of their hive?

Possibly.  I don't know if you could know for sure.  Swarms leave boxes we put them in all the time.  A frame of brood will usually get them to stay.

>Could they have merged with my bees, or maybe they attempted to rob my hives?

Merged?  Maybe if the queen was killed.  Robbing your hives?  If the swarm was bigger than your hives, maybe.  Just not enough information to know for sure.

[jerry1818]

I used lemongrass oil and it's possible I used too much. Since I didn't get any interest last year, I did put a little more this year.

It was smaller than it looked at first because I didn't know that there was comb inside, maybe 2 pounds at most, so I guess robbing would be unlikely. It seemed like I had the queen, but I certainly could have damaged her based on how I botched the capture.

I thought when I posted this that it would be hard to know the answers to the questions I asked, but was interested in experienced input - thanks for yours.

I also thought it a weird coincidence that my bees were acting so aggressively at the same time the swarm left.

[ed/La.]

Even though it was a small swarm a nuc with 3 frames of drawn comb might have appeared to small to them. 8 or 10 frame deep with a frame or 2 of comb on the walls and the remaining frames starter strips. Another option would be to stack on top of hive body with as many frames that would fit and let them figure it out. Caging the queen for a few days is another option. The comb could have been banded into frames.  With all that said they still might have left.

[BeeMaster2]

Jerry,
Welcome to Beemaster.
I think your questions have already been properly answered.
Next time use a q tip, wipe around the entrance with the lemon grass oil and put it in a baggie and seal it up tight. The oil will seep through the bag but not bee so strong. As mentioned rubber band the comb in frames, keep them lined up like they were originally. Don?t leave any slots empty. That just creates a mess that you will have to fix again.
Jim Altmiller

[rgennaro]

ah. that answers a question I had when I removed my swarm. How do I get the comb in the box? Now I know: rubber band it to the frames! I have this info ready for next time. Thanks!

[jerry1818]

I've been foundation-less from the beginning, so I always have rubber-bands in my jacket pocket, but I think that I let myself rush when nothing went according to plan, and then thought it best to disturb them as little as possible. In hindsight, I should have taken my time and done it more carefully. Always learning.

I rubbed the oil around the top of the box and in the entrance. Then I threw the q-tip in a zip-lock, poked holes in the bag with a toothpick, and placed it in the back of the box. Based on the advice here, it seems I used too much - maybe because I like the smell so much.