Another swarm/bait hive query

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RogerJ

New Bee
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Mar 3, 2015
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Location
Herefordshire
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National
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I had a swarm arrive in a poly nuc yesterday (up in tree); waited till 21:30 last night and moved apiary position about 100m away. Added frames of foundation this morning and all seems well. However at the sight where the bait hive came from there are quite "a lot" of bees; I was going to put another bait hive in that location anyway so I have done so which the bees seem to find "interesting".

So are these bees just flyers from the previous swarm who have returned to the location where the queen was last or is it something else? If the former how do I persuade them to return home?
 
So if I understand correctly, spray where the bait hive was to remove scent of old queen and then take the collected bees and "dump" them out in front of the relocated hive (or shake in)?

Thanks
 
So if I understand correctly, spray where the bait hive was to remove scent of old queen and then take the collected bees and "dump" them out in front of the relocated hive (or shake in)?

Thanks

Yes that's what I'd do.

I collected a swarm in a poly bait hive off a fire escape 20 foot up last night. It needs to be collected after dusk. When I arrived there were several bees on the front of the box. Just a light spray a few times with water coaxed them to all go in then I shut them in removed the box and replaced it with another.
The spray usually mops up the stragglers. Never had any issues using this method.
 
Thanks for the input. The little darlings (!) absconded the following day so it became somewhat academic.
 
Thanks for the input. The little darlings (!) absconded the following day so it became somewhat academic.

Bugger! did you not have a queen excluder setting on the entrance disc? I find that trapping the queen in for a couple of days does the trick, my brother has just had the same thing, drove a good few miles to collect a swarm, put them in a Poly Nuc but didn't close the disc down and they cleared out the next day! they'd drawn comb and she'd begun to lay too!
 
I have a suitable piece of cardboard for the purpose to block the mesh for a while, seems to work and is cheap.
 
I did cover the floor and I also had the disc in the QE mode - but perhaps I removed both too soon. One lives and learns - it wasn't the biggest swarm but it was better than nothing!
 
I did cover the floor and I also had the disc in the QE mode - but perhaps I removed both too soon. One lives and learns - it wasn't the biggest swarm but it was better than nothing!

If you did that and they still vanished, you may missed catching the Queen.. that might explain why the bees where still clustering in the tree after you moved the Nuc... or you might have had a slender Virgin Queen in the Nuc that could fit through the excluder.. i will opt for you missed the Queen in the tree.

Edit i forgot too mention they could have also been more than one Virgin Queen in that Swarm, too many variables but i will go with my first ideas.
 
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If you did that and they still vanished, you may missed catching the Queen.. that might explain why the bees where still clustering in the tree after you moved the Nuc... or you might have had a slender Virgin Queen in the Nuc that could fit through the excluder.. i will opt for you missed the Queen in the tree.

Edit i forgot too mention they could have also been more than one Virgin Queen in that Swarm, too many variables but i will go with my first ideas.

My money is on exactly that scenario - missed the Q or a VQ
 
Interesting comments - thanks. That thought did cross my mind.

I did leave it till late before moving them and there were no obvious bees clustering on the branch - the odd one still flying. Not sure what else I should have done.

I did think it was too good to be true having caught a swarm the day previously from a neighbours field, in the "conventional" manner, which has stayed put!

Frustrating hobby isn't it!
 
If you did that and they still vanished, you may missed catching the Queen.. that might explain why the bees where still clustering in the tree after you moved the Nuc... or you might have had a slender Virgin Queen in the Nuc that could fit through the excluder.. i will opt for you missed the Queen in the tree.

Edit i forgot too mention they could have also been more than one Virgin Queen in that Swarm, too many variables but i will go with my first ideas.

As Millet says could have two virgins in a swarm.

I had a large swarm arrive in my garden on Thursday lunchtime while I was sat out. However it did split into two and bees entered the two bait hives (Paynes poly nucs) on the hedge ten feet apart. I've looked in one and they ar covering two frames that I can see through the clear crown board. Today there is a similar amount of activity from both.
I'm going to leave them for now and see if there was a queen in each.
 

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