Absconded swarm

maddydog · May 14, 2014

As per the title. Caught a swarm (from one of my own hives) put them in 14x12 with five frames of foundation. The land owner has been keeping a close eye on them and they left on the 10th day.

I checked the hive today and there's some wild comb in there and they'd started to draw the foundation. Just wondering if this is normal? I can see swarms moving on after a day or 2, but 10? Apparently they've moved into a dust bin a couple of doors down and the owner is happy to keep them!

ichbinpaul · May 14, 2014

abscondees

Yes today I hived one of my own swarms from a palm tree easy peasy gently laid the palm leaf and bundle on the frames and they all melted in nicely, I left the lid ajar for a couple of hours, came back to two dizzy girlies traversing the foundation and no sign of the crowd, last week I watched another of my swarms congregate 15ft up a mature conifer, hive was readied ladder placed all within 5-6mins 3/4 of the way up the ladder poof! I must be the ugliest bast'd alive.

Polyanwood · May 15, 2014

It seems that if the swarm have already reached a consensus to move, they sometimes will even if rehomed in a nuc box. Some people put a piece of queen excluder across the entrance to stop this. The problem with this is if it is not a mated queen she may struggle to get through to go out on mating flights and get damaged or even die. Another way people stop this is that they put in a frame with some open brood from another colony to help anchor a new swarm in the new box. This does work, but obviously there is a small risk of spreading any disease you might already have if the swarm is from different stock.

dn170221 · May 15, 2014

Just out of interest had you given then a frame of brood?

Heather · May 15, 2014

Yes, add a frame of brood (BIAS) and they usually will not abscond. Instinct tells them to stay and protect.

Idiots who want bees to stay in a dustbin.. They cannot be cared for well.... e.g. varroa treatment . They will prob want them removing when well established and that will be so disruptive to the bees.

maddydog · May 16, 2014

Hi, thanks for the replies. no i hadn't added a frame of bias. interestingly, earlier on the day i posted i captured another swarm and intuitively added a couple frames of bias to hopefully ‘anchor‘ them. Nice to know my thinking is not flawed all the time!