After Swarm? Second swarm I have found and put in a cardboard box!

[harvey]

Hello all,  Advice Please,   I found a swarm a week ago and after two days in a cardboard box a friend gave me a brood box to put them in.  They seem quite happy a week later and apear to be real busy.  Today I found another smaller swarm,  maybe the size of a small football.  i was told by a man at Dadent bee supply that the swarm was an after swarm and probably not big enough to survive winter, his suggestion was to add it to the first hive by putting three sheets of newspaper on the first brood box and then add another brood box and dump these bees into it.  He said the bees would eat through the paper, workers would become friends, queens would fight and the younger queen would win and take over the hive?  I have another brood box coming maybe as soon as tomorrow.  Any suggestions Ideas, or opinions on if this is a good thing to do or not?  This is my first bee hive.

[harvey]

Come on now somebody must have some advice for me!  I am in the thumb area in Michigan if that helps?

[JP]

If they are indeed two small swarms, the advice given was right on the money. I would feed them, oh, one piece of newspaper or two is fine for the combine.


...JP

[asprince]

If the second swarm is the size of one of those small souvenir size balls, yes, good advice. But a football size swarm is a decent swarm. I would take a chance. You can always combine later.

Steve

[danno]

I think I would also see how they do as 2 colonies.  Football size isn't what i would call small.  If one or both doesn't build up combine them later

[Scadsobees]

I agree with Danno, put them in the second brood box and see how they do.  You can always combine them later (using the newspapermethod mentioned by dadant) if you don't think that they will make it.

And feed for a while, that will give them a great boost.

Rick

[JP]

Was thinking they were itty bitty swarms, perhaps the size of a softball, missed the football size reference, I now concur with the above aforementioned. A football sized swarm is a decent sized swarm.


...JP

[Rebel Rose Apiary]

You can also switch the locations of the hives to help 'boost' the smaller swarm when most of the forager bees are out in the field. When the forager bees come back to the former location of the larger hive, they are loaded down with pollen and nectar, so the guard bees will let them in.

You gain the larger amount of forager bees, plus the pollen and nectar they are bringing in to the smaller swarm....the forager bees from the smaller hive will be taking their pollen and nectar into the larger and stronger hive. It helps to do this to equal out a sizes of each hive.

Brenda

[danno]

I just noticed that you are from Michigan.  You have plenty of time for these colonies to build up.   The best is yet to come

[EasternShore]

Make two colonies..and FEED LIKE CRAZY!!!! 1 to 1 mixture...try not to open feed tho..will cause robbing and you may end up with none..

I started out with 2 that size last year..I now have 11 boomers..