1st swarm

[CaptainCymru]

well that worked, only finished it today !

 

[Do224]

Brilliant, did they migrate in to the box from the cluster themselves or did you have to help them?

 

[CaptainCymru]

Brilliant, did they migrate in to the box from the cluster themselves or did you have to help them?

Shook them straight into a proper box with frames, that box just had a half cut frame in it and some lemongrass oil

 

[CaptainCymru]

That's them in their new home with a super and a feed

 

[GuyNir]

Nice one

 

[Erichalfbee]

That's them in their new home with a super and a feed

View attachment 27112

How can they resist living there ?

 

[CaptainCymru]

How can they resist living there ?

Palace think they might be black bees ,super dark compared to my buckfast

 

[Erichalfbee]

Palace think they might be black bees ,super dark compared to my buckfast

Does colour matter?
I split my last colony three days ago
I popped the crownboard of the nuc in the rain to add a frame of food and nobody came up to buzz me off.

 

[Do224]

Palace think they might be black bees ,super dark compared to my buckfast

The bees that have been arriving at my traps have been very dark coloured too...or at least I think they would be considered black bees with my (very) limited experience.

Do yours look similar to these?

 

[CaptainCymru]

The bees that have been arriving at my traps have been very dark coloured too...or at least I think they would be considered black bees with my (very) limited experience.

Do yours look similar to these?

View attachment 27113

Yeah, of course, I'm very new to it all too , I'm assuming they are some sort of black bee / local type! Mine seemed darker than that again.

 

[CaptainCymru]

Does colour matter?
I split my last colony three days ago
I popped the crownboard of the nuc in the rain to add a frame of food and nobody came up to buzz me off.

Ha nah ,interesting to see how they are once they settle down!

 

[Do224]

Yeah, of course, I'm very new to it all too , I'm assuming they are some sort of black bee / local type! Mine seemed darker than that again.

Yeah they look really dark. Presume they’ll be better adapted to your local environment than your buckfasts

 

[CaptainCymru]

Yeah they look really dark. Presume they’ll be better adapted to your local environment than your buckfasts

No idea ,hopefully they wont be as nasty , although just requeenwd the buckfast hive so time will tell!Hope you catch a swarm in your traps , weather has been so odd ,humid thundery weather ! I has some old brood comb (1 frame sawn in half and screwed to a plank) ,some lemongrass , but what really did it was I smeared a little honey on the entrance then within the day the whole lot turned up !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yeah, of course, I'm very new to it all too , I'm assuming they are some sort of black bee / local type! Mine seemed darker than that again.

Yeah they look really dark.

Hasn't the thought occurred to you that they may well be Carniolan bees? They are an extremely dark bee.

 

[CaptainCymru]

Hasn't the thought occurred to you that they may well be Carniolan bees? They are an extremely dark bee.

Nope ,I'm not experienced enough to know tbh, I've heard carniolans are swarmy. There wasnt a marked queen with them I could see but will have an inspection in a week or so when wx better and they are settled.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

, I've heard carniolans are swarmy.

No more than any other bee, they seem to have the same characteristics as other black bee strains

 

[Do224]

No idea ,hopefully they wont be as nasty , although just requeenwd the buckfast hive so time will tell!Hope you catch a swarm in your traps , weather has been so odd ,humid thundery weather ! I has some old brood comb (1 frame sawn in half and screwed to a plank) ,some lemongrass , but what really did it was I smeared a little honey on the entrance then within the day the whole lot turned up !

Isn’t there a saying ‘a swarm before a storm’ or something.

That’s interesting about the honey...conventional wisdom seems to be not to have anything worth robbing in a swarm trap, but I guess you’ve just proved that’s not necessarily true!

They are very dark bees, much darker than mine

 

[CaptainCymru]

Isn’t there a saying ‘a swarm before a storm’ or something.

That’s interesting about the honey...conventional wisdom seems to be not to have anything worth robbing in a swarm trap, but I guess you’ve just proved that’s not necessarily true!

They are very dark bees, much darker than mine

I think the smell of the honey drew them in greater numbers to it ,but noticed alot of them having their fill then going Inside to look around.Anyway reset the trap to see as I'm sure there was two colonies competing for it, lots of fighting and dragging each other around before the swarm came.Fingers crossed for another one !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm sure there was two colonies competing for it, lots of fighting and dragging each other around

Typical sign of robbing bees

 

[Ian123]

Are you sure they need that super, could they have gone into a single brood. Swarms go super mad drawing comb for a short period keep rotating any undrawn frames into the centre or against the brood nest to take full advantage. Also remember numbers of bees will dwindle from day 1 there’s some time before they’ll be on an upward curve. Ian