Specific Swarm Questions

mgmoore7 · April 09, 2008, 03:09:39 PM

My strongest hive. Also my most aggresive. I was planning on requeening within a week or 2.

They swarmed today about lunch time. Settled on a tree about 6' high just about 10 feet away.

I caught them and put them in a 2 deep nuc. top level does not have frames now, bottom level has 3 wax built out and 2 HSC.

It was need to see them all file into the nuc. I guess I got the queen on the 1st fall into the bucket and i poured them in the nuc and put the top on. About a 1/3rd fell on the white sheet and the rest were still on the tree. After about 45 minutes 95% were in the nuc. Yippee

I seeled up the entrance with some #8 wire, moved them to their new location (about 5 feet from the hive they came from), gave them some sugar water.

QUESTIONS:
-When should I take the entrance blocker off?

-Should I go ahead and put the remaining 5 frames in the top level of the nuc after they settle down or leave it that way for a bit or removed the top section all together.

-I still want to install my own queen in the hive they came from and now I will need to requeen this one at some point. When should I requeen these. I can get a queen fairly quickly.

Thanks. My 1st swarm captured out of my back yard neighbor and they never knew it. Glad my wife called me. I wish I could have seen it but wish more so that they would not have swarmed. That is going to slow down production but also will save me the $70 from buying a nuc like I was planning later this week.

Apis629 · April 09, 2008, 05:59:05 PM

It would probably make sense to remove the entrance reducer within the first two days. A swarm is itching to draw comb, and once they do, even before the cells are finished, they will most likely have eggs deposited in them. At that point, you basically lose all chance that the swarm will abandon the hive.

I would advise you to wait on the requeening until they're stable in their new location. An interrupt in how much time it takes for them to get eggs laid and the next batch of bees on the way immediately after a swarm probably wouldn't be helpful. I'd imagine after the first brood cycle, it'd be safe to requeen, then again, that's just how I would do it, and I'm sure plenty of others will have other strategies.

Finally, as for the top super, that's really up to you depending on the size of the swarm. Given your local, there's no real risk of the brood getting too cold, but they may draw out foundation in a "chimney pattern." ..well.. are they on foundation or already drawn comb, for that matter?

mgmoore7 · April 09, 2008, 06:16:13 PM

Quote from: Apis629 on April 09, 2008, 05:59:05 PM
It would probably make sense to remove the entrance reducer within the first two days. A swarm is itching to draw comb, and once they do, even before the cells are finished, they will most likely have eggs deposited in them. At that point, you basically lose all chance that the swarm will abandon the hive.

I would advise you to wait on the requeening until they're stable in their new location. An interrupt in how much time it takes for them to get eggs laid and the next batch of bees on the way immediately after a swarm probably wouldn't be helpful. I'd imagine after the first brood cycle, it'd be safe to requeen, then again, that's just how I would do it, and I'm sure plenty of others will have other strategies.

Finally, as for the top super, that's really up to you depending on the size of the swarm. Given your local, there's no real risk of the brood getting too cold, but they may draw out foundation in a "chimney pattern." ..well.. are they on foundation or already drawn comb, for that matter?

What is in there are 5 frames. 3 are wax, mostly drawn out. 2 are HSC that have seen "some" use. If they want to draw wax so bad, should I put in some frames with foundation.

You are saying that I should leave them sealed up for at least 24hrs?

Kathyp · April 09, 2008, 09:38:01 PM

why do you want to requeen?

mgmoore7 · April 09, 2008, 09:58:02 PM

Quote from: kathyp on April 09, 2008, 09:38:01 PM
why do you want to requeen?

Because that hive is very agressive compared to the others and my situation is such that I don't care to deal with an agressive hive. They made their own queen late LY and I do my best to abide Floridas Africanized Bee Management program and that includes replacing queens that have been produced by the hive. I need to purchased from a known breeder. And now, I will have two queens that were not purchased. One that is known to be agressive and the other I don't know yet but I still need to replace her.

Kathyp · April 09, 2008, 10:49:48 PM

makes sense.

we don't have AHB here (yet) and i have not had such good luck with purchased queens. that's why i was asking.

Apis629 · April 09, 2008, 11:04:33 PM

I imagine 24 hours would be plenty of time. I've dumped swarms in a box and left the entrance wide open, and they stayed anyways. I imagine with comb in there, they'll have more than enough incentive to stay. Just be sure to have brood cycle or two before replacing the queen.

mgmoore7 · April 14, 2008, 12:49:02 PM

After about 30 hours, I unblocked the entrance and boy they were happy to be flying. I also added 5 foundation frames at the same time to the upper level of the nuc.

I think this was a large swarm. There were far more than 3lbs or 4lbs that a typical package is. I think I probably just let them get too crowded. I had one deep and one super for brood boxes and one honey super but I am guessing that there must have been alot of development and I did not stay on top of it enough.

As of Sun afternoon, they were still there, so all appears to be well.

I wish this did not occur because they were producing honey the best of my 3 hives and that is what I want right now. Oh well, that is beekeeping for you. They don't seem to always do what you want.