Caught 1st Swarm, stayed one night and flew off, why?

Utah · June 22, 2008, 11:56:33 PM

OK, caught a HUGE swarm I think from my own hives. It was large and probably weighed about 6 to 7 pounds from my guess when I put them in a cardboard box.

I put them in a Top Bar Hive - the only thing I had at the time. They went in Ok. Many of them stayed on the top just outside the hole entrance overnight.

Well, sometime today they all flew off except for about ten or so.

So what are the probable reasons they did not stay??

New wood for the TBH, probably about 40 inches long TBH, only about 11 inches high, did have a very small amount of lemon oil on the wood, they built only about a 50 cent piece worth of comb.

They are gone now, Ugh! What could I have done?

Also, I have three new hives they probably came from. I looked into them all and they are not really full of either drawn comb or bees. Would I get such a large swarm on a cold year where I am at this early with a new hive? Maybe they were doing better than I thought.

Any and all help is really appreciated.

tillie · June 23, 2008, 12:58:15 AM

You may not have gotten the queen - she is the staying power for the hive.

Linda T in Atlanta, amateur swarm catcher

JP · June 23, 2008, 01:54:52 AM

Sometimes they just wanna go. One thing I do is spend some time finding the queen and cage her in the set up, After they have begun setting up shop you can release her or let them release her.

The extra few days is sometimes what it takes to make them stay.

Also, remember that virgin queens can be quite flighty, another good reason to cage the queen.

Also good to add entrance reducer and a little grass in the opening. If you have a brood frame or two you could add from another colony, this usually will anchor them, sometimes a frame of honey will do the trick as well.

...JP

dpence · June 23, 2008, 11:10:55 AM

Goes with the saying, sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. I am not too good at finding the virgin queens, but have found that drawn comb and a little honey as JP mentioned ups the chances of them staying.

David

KONASDAD · June 23, 2008, 12:33:30 PM

Skip finding queen and just install over excluder. I leave on for 48hrs minimally. I also finf rain and nitefall helps. I take off excluder in evening which gives them another 1/2 day to acclimate to new home. This helps w/ absconding, but does not eliminate. My success rate went up to mabout 90% w/ excluder over botom board.

Robo · June 23, 2008, 01:45:36 PM

I'm with Seth on this, an excluder on the bottom board for a couple days works great. Also giving them a frame of brood also helps.

JP · June 23, 2008, 06:06:45 PM

Quote from: Robo on June 23, 2008, 01:45:36 PM
I'm with Seth on this, an excluder on the bottom board for a couple days works great. Also giving them a frame of brood also helps.

Well, ok, you can do the excluder thing, but where's the fun in that!!! ;)

...JP

Brian D. Bray · June 23, 2008, 11:51:56 PM

If the bees had already decided on a destination prior to swarming nothing, except using and excluder as an includer, will keep the bees from going to the preselected spot.

Utah · June 24, 2008, 01:06:22 AM

Thanks for the info. I didn't have an excluder for the TBH, but next time I will have a regular super to box them in. .... Dang it, that was a really big swarm that I lost.

And how do you all ever find the queen in a swarm? There were so many bees, I had about 20 in my veil and I was paniking big time!!

Anyone have two queens they would sell me in the Utah area?

KONASDAD · June 24, 2008, 11:17:21 AM

Quote from: Utah on June 24, 2008, 01:06:22 AM
Thanks for the info. I didn't have an excluder for the TBH, but next time I will have a regular super to box them in. .... Dang it, that was a really big swarm that I lost.

And how do you all ever find the queen in a swarm? There were so many bees, I had about 20 in my veil and I was paniking big time!!

Anyone have two queens they would sell me in the Utah area?

I would imagine you could use hardware cloth bent into TBH entrance as an includer.

I also find it impossible to find queen and even harder to catch her after finding her. Thats why I just go about business and if i see her, i see her. Which makes putting her above excluder the simplest and most convenient way. Perhaps when I am as experienced as the "KING OF SWARMS", I will find the fun in looking for the queen. In my present experience , I am still striving for success before the nuances. With time i know i too will be looking for queens regularly.

Panicking- we have all, and I mean all of us, have had moments where running was best option. Look at it as "school of hard knocks" learning. Yes it can be very crazy under hood. Just remain calm and slow it down and all will be good in the end.

JP · June 24, 2008, 10:49:01 PM

What I do when I catch a swarm is to shake them in a box, white and blue ones I find work great! ;)

I sit down and place the box on my lap with my legs crossed and I bang the box against my legs, one hard hit, then I open the box and scan the bees for the queen, she usually stands out and I catch her with a hairclip queen catcher.

While I am looking for her the bees are usually orienting to the box by fanning and releasing nosanov, if I don't get her the first time, I do this a couple of times until I find her.

It just takes a little patience and concentration its not a trick. If you don't get the queen in the box, the bees fly right out for the most part letting you know you didn't get her.

Virgin queens can be very flighty and move about very quickly, if they leave the box they'll go back to where the cluster was and you just do it again until you get her.

...JP

2-Wheeler · June 25, 2008, 03:27:59 PM

Scott,
Sorry to hear about the lost swarm. Same thing happened to us last year. I learned that I too should have blocked the entrance or used a queen excluder after installing.

When our captured swarm escaped, it turned up about 1/2 mile down the road. Have you expanded your search to see where they went?