Time sensitive swarm advice sought

[Mr. Dot]

Howdy
I'm dealing with an unexpected swarm situation and am seeking quick advice. Sorry if this is a subject that has been covered here often but I don't have the time at the moment to read past posts.

I have two first year hives going. I inspected yesterday and saw that one hive had both deeps filled up but the super on top (that had been in place for three weeks or so) had no comb being built. Zero. I had a queen excluder between the two deeps and the one super and would see a few bees up in the super but no comb being built. That was puzzling but I figured they would start when they were ready. We are in drought conditions here for the past six weeks and I figured they were just moving slowly.

This afternoon my wife spotted a clump of bees on one of our trees. Holy cow! Swarm! From all I've read I didn't expect a swarm the first year and so was not prepared for this surprise. I quickly built a passable temporary bottom board and knocked together some deep frames to fill the one extra deep box I have on hand. I then captured the swarm into a cardboard box that has one side screened for ventilation. So far so good.

It's sundown now and the bees are still boxed on my back porch. My plan is to put the new tacked together hive next to the other two hives in the morning, lay down a sheet ramp to the entrance of the new box and dump the bees in front of it. Does that sound about right?

I don't know why the bees wouldn't move into the super. I pulled the queen excluder tonight to see if that would encourage them to move up.
I'd appreciate any advice that might come in tonight before I start in with my plan in the morning.

Thanx.

[2-Wheeler]

I think you're on the right track.  I think you should dump them in the new home, and let any stragglers walk up the sheet. Don't just expect them all to take the hike on their own. You've got to get the queen in the new home.

I've only captured one swarm, but after I did, it vacated the premises the next day. Lesson learned: lock them in with some feed for a few days before opening the entrance reduce to the smaller setting.

I've heard that swarms are attracted to Lemon grass scent.  Good luck. 

[buzzbee]

You may want to put your excluder between the new bottom board and hive body and dump the bees right in on the frames if you think the queen is in the swarm. give them time to settle in the new hive.The excluder should keep the swarm queen in the new hive. Leave the excluder out of the old hive.
You may want to include your general location in your profile for more specific advice.
I hived a swarm using a blanket,heres some of the pics.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=9957.msg64344#msg64344

[Mr. Dot]

Thanks for the replies. Nice pics buzzbee. My swarm was considerably smaller - maybe the size of a nice sized grapefruit.
Location is Western Montana. I was hustling today to prepare around the house for all the fires that are popping up around here and didn't really need this kind of distraction. But that's what makes for an interesting story later on I guess...

I'll try putting the reducer on the entrance before introducing them to the new deep in the morning.

They're sure going to have to get with it if they're going to build themselves up enough for a Montana Winter. Wish them luck.

[buzzbee]

Feed Feed Feed and good luck with the fires in your area

[Robo]

Thanks for the replies. Nice pics buzzbee. My swarm was considerably smaller - maybe the size of a nice sized grapefruit.

Sounds like it may be an after swarm if it is that small.  You may want to put them in a nuc to limit their space. They will grow faster that way.   You also might want to forgo the excluder on the bottom as the queen may still be a virgin.

[buzzbee]

Good point Rob!