Interesting Swarm today

DM · May 11, 2010, 06:44:43 PM

Mid day my wife called me at work to tell me one of the hives swarmed in the oak tree out front. I got home and they were still in the tree low enough to them. So I set up a new hive with drawn comb. I took out 4 frames to prepare for the swarm. Cut the swarm out of the tree and shook them in the hive. Put the frames back in and put the cover on. A few minutes later allot of bees on the ground. So i went to investigate and I found the queen on the ground. Picked her up and put her back in the hive. I had to go back to work. So My wife watched the progress. Shortly after I left they all came out of the new hive and went back into the old hive.

I checked the new hive when I got home and it was empty. Should I split the hive or did they go through a fake swarm and leave it alone?

Dennis

D Coates · May 11, 2010, 07:01:55 PM

Practice ;)... All jokes aside, they'll do it again. I'd go find that queen and do a split to avoid possibly losing them when they swarm again. You'll find plenty of capped and uncapped Q-cells in there to start new colonies. In the future if you catch the queen from a swarm cage her. A swarm won't leave without her 99% of the time. Even if you don't find her add a frame of brood and eggs to keep the swarm from leaving. I've never had them leave if I put a frame of eggs/brood in there. It anchors them down tightly and by the time they young emerge the queen is laying and they're a new hive.

DM · May 11, 2010, 07:19:53 PM

Thanks, I keep practicing and learning as each day goes by. It will be 48 degrees and raining here tomorrow. I will have to split them on Thursday. Too cold to open them up now. Hope they will still be here?

Dennis

skflyfish · May 11, 2010, 10:43:12 PM

A crazy day to swarm for sure. It was 45F, windy and hard rain here, and they decided to leave and land on this spruce tree that was 12 feet away. I didn't find them till 8:00 pm when I was walking thru the apiary.

Put them in a nuc and moved them over 300 yards away and restricted the entrance. Hopefully they will stay.

I feel for ya, for sure. :-D

Jay

Erich · May 12, 2010, 12:47:23 AM

Maybe I have something to learn here as well. I captured a swarm on Mothers Day, (my first) and did not relocate it far from the capture point, which was near my two other colonies. I assume it came from one of mine. I set up the captured hive no more than 30 feet from the other colonies. I take it that is a bad idea? I will try to post a couple of pics.
Erich
Having trouble with the pic posting so I better study up on that.

skflyfish · May 12, 2010, 05:19:08 AM

This is my second swarm and my fourth year as a beek. I am by no means an expert. I just posted what I did FWIW. It could be all wrong. :-D

D Coates · May 12, 2010, 12:24:34 PM

Skyflyfish,

Is that poison ivy in that photo? Snakes, Spider, Scorpions, Bees, Wasps you name it I'm all in it. You drop some poison ivy in it and I'm a whole lot more cautious.

Erich, our avitar photo has got to be the biggest swarm I've ever seen. I personally leave a captured swarm alone to get the queen to start laying before I move it (usually a week). When I do move it I wait until night (they'll all be there) to cork and move it. If it's under 2 miles I put everygreen branches (my personal choice) loosely over the entrance to encourage reorientation flights. If it's over 2 miles I set them down, uncork them, and forget it.

skflyfish · May 12, 2010, 01:15:53 PM

@D Coates,

It does look at lot like poison ivy, but they are the shoots of a box elder I cut down. I am really allergic to poison ivy and I have it on my property, so I know the difference. :shock:

The move and narrow entrance didn't help. At 8:00 am they were half out and getting ready to swarm again. I moved them to a hive body with queen excluder's on both ends. All the while it was 43F out. They are still there now, but who knows for how long. I didn't see the queen but they were clustered pretty tight. If it is a virgin queen, then I think they are goners. There sure is a lot of activity at the original swarm site.

Erich · May 14, 2010, 10:40:11 PM

My avitar: This swarm showed up in my back yard before I was a keeper of bees. I called my dad and he came right out. I helped him hive it and he took it home the next morninhg. After my dad passed away in 2003, I decided to put his equipment back to use. Took my family to beekeeping classes and away we go. I wished I had spent more time with dad and the bees then. :(