Captured Swarm Advice

[Zeb]

I retrieved a large swarm today from a neighbour's tree . They had come from the chimney of a house just over the road . The colony had been in the chimney for some time , possibly years . The guy who owned the chimney had decided to get rid of them today by smoking them out so it wasn't a " natural " swarm . Went back this evening and collected the skep in which the bees seemed to have settled and rehived the swarm some miles away . The skep seemed to be quite light given the number of bees and I wondered if this could be because the bees hadn't had time to gather food before leaving , so we gave them a rapid feeder with 1.5 litres of 1 : 1 sugar solution . As a fairly new beekeeper I would appreciate thoughts / comments on what else I could / should have done .

 

[masterBK]

Swarms (even absconding ones) from "feral" colonies tend to have a high Varroa load in my experience. It is normally advised not to feed swarms right away as a precaution against EFB but if they were starving then I suppose you had no option. I would keep the swarm well away from any other hives you have until they produce sufficent brood for you to check for foul brood.

 

[ijcooper]

 

[Zeb]

Thanks guys . The intention is to put this hive in a new apiary , well away from other hives . I'll certainly be checking for foul brood .

 

[ratcatcher]

I was told the opposite, that bees from chimneys had very little varroa, which was thought to have something to do with the soot?
could be wrong of course, ask 10 beekeepers a question you'll always get different answers,lol

 

[oliver90owner]

Chimney not used for umpteen years, gas fires. Could be lots of reasons for no soot. Maybe mites don't like volatiles from soot, but bees don't seem to mind!

So easy to treat while no capped brood, so a sensible precaution for an unknown swarm. They may not have been there long, either. Colonies die out and are replaced on a more regular basis since varroa.

 

[masterBK]

I monitor mite counts from swarms including chimney swarms and the latter tend to have more mites than swarms from managed colonies. Swarms from chimneys tend to take over an abandoned comb in a chimney and then swarm and cast every year after that until their ultimate demise. It is probably the broodless period (rather than hygenic behaviour) after the swarm(s) have issued that prevents the varroa knocking them off for several years. Relatively the casts have a higher % of mites compared to the bee numbers in a swarm as the colony by then has no open brood for the phoretic mites to go into. Have Varroa treatments based on soot actually been scientifically tested for efficacy?

 

[Zeb]

Another Swarm from same chimney

I got another call today from the same person saying that there was another swarm from the same chimney . On my way there , the lady from the house stopped me , not knowing that I was on my way to check out this new swarm and said that the colony had been there for 15 years . She asked if I knew how to get rid of it , I don't . Any advice would be gratefully received .
I captured and have re-hived the swarm . It was massive . I took a very close look and could see no obvious signs of varoa on the bees themselves but as I say , I am a very new beekeeper and may not have spotted it . Again , there was a large number of seemingly agitated bees still buzzing around the chimney pot . Thoughts and advice please .

 

[Arfermo]

As there is no brood as yet it is a opportunity not be missed to treat with oxalic pronto.

 

[beeno]

I got another call today from the same person saying that there was another swarm from the same chimney . On my way there , the lady from the house stopped me , not knowing that I was on my way to check out this new swarm and said that the colony had been there for 15 years . She asked if I knew how to get rid of it , I don't . Any advice would be gratefully received .
I captured and have re-hived the swarm . It was massive . I took a very close look and could see no obvious signs of varoa on the bees themselves but as I say , I am a very new beekeeper and may not have spotted it . Again , there was a large number of seemingly agitated bees still buzzing around the chimney pot . Thoughts and advice please .

If they were in my chimney, I would see this as a good opportunity to sweep it following two swarms. After ensuring that all the comb had dropped and been cleared, I would have a fire for two days to get rid of the pheromones.

 

[BeeJayBee]

If they were in my chimney, I would see this as a good opportunity to sweep it following two swarms. After ensuring that all the comb had dropped and been cleared, I would have a fire for two days to get rid of the pheromones.

Having seen the trailer full of sacks of old comb carefully removed from a single chimney after many years of occupation, sweeping isn't the answer and, once the old wax clinging to the brickwork heats up, a fire might be more fierce than anticipated.

Once the colony is removed, by whatever means, the chimney will need capping with an insect-proof mesh to prevent reoccupation.

 

[Teebeeaitch]

If that's 15 years continuous occupation, it would indicate to me they are not sick bees. I would suggest their secret is isolation from interfering and over zealous beeks.