a small swarm has arrived - leave them to move in, or assist?

[Beemum]

I left a nuc out after washing it, went to put it back indoors today, and it's covered in bees!

There are lots of bees investigating inside, but the main swarm is clustered on the wrong end of the nuc - ie the end without the entrance. I've added a couple of frames of stores for encouragement, so shall I leave them to find their way in, or should I "help"?

 

[Vanterrier]

Do you have another nuc that you could place where they could walk into it?
K

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

don't use frames of stores - all you will 'encourage' is a robbing frenzy

 

[Beemum]

I have - it's currently storing some frames full of honey that I was going to extract tomorrow...so shall I leave those in as an enticement? It'll take a bit of juggling to get the other nuc exactly in front of them, but I'll work something out!

 

[Beemum]

Just seen your post JBM, I won't leave the frames in then- I initially wondered if it they were just investigating because I'd not cleaned it properly...but there is a proper clump of sleepy bees as well as the flying ones...you wouldn't get that without a queen in there somewhere would you? ie they're not sitting like that as part of a robbing party?

 

[Beemum]

ok, with some stupidity (mine) and confusion (bees) they are now making their way into NUC 2 via a Heath Robinson bridge made of some wild comb they had already constructed underneath NUC 1... so they've clearly been there a while and I've not noticed them. We will see what the morning brings and in the interim I will clean up all the honey from the frames I very stupidly (as already mentioned) balanced on the kitchen worktop in the flap to empty the nuc, which of course fell over and have coated cooker and floor in sticky deliciousness...

 

[Gilberdyke John]

in the interim I will clean up all the honey from the frames I very stupidly (as already mentioned) balanced on the kitchen worktop in the flap to empty the nuc, which of course fell over and have coated cooker and floor in sticky deliciousness...

LOL that's a mistake you're unlikely to repeat. We've all had spilt honey, some more so than others.

 

[Erichalfbee]

LOL that's a mistake you're unlikely to repeat. We've all had spilt honey, some more so than others.

Yes....anybody remember this from poor Doug?
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/extraction-disaster.25971/

 

[Beemum]

Oh wow, some great stories there - the bees always win don't they?! On the plus side, my kitchen smelled amazing when we came down this morning !

 

[Beemum]

OK, further advice needed please, NUC2 is completely empty, they appeared to be moving happily into it last night, but this morning they are all back clustered to the wrong side of NUC1.

Should I leave them to make their own decisions, or try again to scoop them up - if the latter, it seems that NUC1 is more appealing (presumably because it's now covered in queen pheromone) so should I try and get them in there? Or just stop messing about with them...I don't "need" more bees especially as I am hoping to move house over the winter, and two hives to find new space for is enough...and leave them to do whatever they do?

As a new beek I have discovered that I do love handling a swarm though (is that weird?!) the way they cling together and the warmth is incredible!

 

[Vanterrier]

Could you shake them into nuc2? Or perhaps shake them into a bigger plastic storage box then pour them into a nuc?
K

 

[Antipodes]

so should I try and get them in there?

It sounds like it, yes.

 

[Markthebuilder]

Personal experiance is that if you can dump the majority of the cluster ergo the queen in a nuc with a frame or more of comb they will stick add other frames of stores as you would a split

 

[Beemum]

ok, finally, they are in NUC1, and are remarkably docile considering I had to scoop them off with a feather into a box and then re-scoop them into the nuc. The nearest solid ground to put the nuc on a stand is about 3-4 feet away, have I now got to hop 3 ft at a time across the field to the apiary, or is that less of an issue when they are newly installed in a nuc and I can move them in one go?

If they ship out again tonight then I'm going to give up on them as ungrateful/knowing better and wanting to do their own thing; I'm no control freak and don't want to coerce unwilling guests, but we are high up on the fells and the forecast for the next few days is...unhelpful...

 

[Markthebuilder]

Move them in one go at night put leafy branch in front of entrance so any bees that have oriented to current position will reorientate to new position.

Any bees that don’t will hang around old position for a while before going off to find the nearest hive they can to beg into

Caveat!!
Just done some messy moveing hive from back to front of house & combining hives with paper, tried leaving a box to collect any wanderers. Not good they just became very defensive back garden became a no go zone for the day
so repeated move by 11am all hives calm
Not text book but

 

[Penninetrader]

don't use frames of stores - all you will 'encourage' is a robbing frenzy

 

[Penninetrader]

Move them in one go at night put leafy branch in front of entrance so any bees that have oriented to current position will reorientate to new position.

Any bees that don’t will hang around old position for a while before going off to find the nearest hive they can to beg into

Caveat!!
Just done some messy moveing hive from back to front of house & combining hives with paper, tried leaving a box to collect any wanderers. Not good they just became very defensive back garden became a no go zone for the day
so repeated move by 11am all hives calm
Not text book but

I did the leave behind box idea when moving the colony about 150 yds I will not do it again. I cover the entrance fully with some leylandai cuttings and seal them in for 24 hours or so and it has worked several times for me

 

[holmbee]

Very small cast arrived this morning and attached itself to the super. The hive contains one of my newly purchased mbc queens, the brood box now rammed with workers and brood in all stages. Tried to brush (with a swan's feather) the cast into a nuc - difficult with a heavyish super containing bees and nectar. I clearly missed the queen as they quickly returned to the super. Think I will just leave them to it for a while - very busy with other issues.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Very small cast arrived this morning and attached itself to the super. The hive contains one of my newly purchased mbc queens, the brood box now rammed with workers and brood in all stages. Tried to brush (with a swan's feather) the cast into a nuc - difficult with a heavyish super containing bees and nectar. I clearly missed the queen as they quickly returned to the super. Think I will just leave them to it for a while - very busy with other issues.

If that's all there are then leave them to it

 

[holmbee]

If that's all there are then leave them to it

Thanks. My thoughts exactly.