Captured swarm and drawn comb

[JonnyPicklechin]

Just housed a medium size swarm originating from one my own on Friday caught in a "back up bait".

The new hive is all new foundation as wanted to encourage drawing to obtain nice fresh frames. Will start a good feed on Tuesday.

But i dont want the extra hive and wish to combine at sone stage. Is it a simple case of monitoring combs and laying along with feeding, picking the right time for the unite?

Any other tips?


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[pargyle]

Just housed a medium size swarm originating from one my own on Friday caught in a "back up bait".

The new hive is all new foundation as wanted to encourage drawing to obtain nice fresh frames. Will start a good feed on Tuesday.

But i dont want the extra hive and wish to combine at sone stage. Is it a simple case of monitoring combs and laying along with feeding, picking the right time for the unite?

Any other tips?


Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

If they were definitely your bees and they are disease free you really dont need to wait two days before feeding. The reason you wait to feed a swarm is so that they use up the stores they are carrying to make wax in case they are carrying any disease with them.

If you want them to draw comb fast give them a feed but be aware that once they start drawing comb and there is plenty of forage about they will start to fill it with nectar (and syrup !). Don't be tempted to put a super on when you are feeding.

As for combining ... I wouldn't, the risk is that you combine too soon and produce a big colony which will get bigger and you will get more swarms !! I would leave the virgin to get mated, let the colony grow independently and then much later in the season make a decision about which is the best queen you have and then, oif you really don't want the increase, combine much later in the season with the best queen heading the colony and you can then do one of two things. Keep the other queen and a few frames of bees in a Nuc to overwinter (if she's any good) to sell next spring (and you then, also, have a reserve) or take her to the gatepost.

 

[JonnyPicklechin]

If they were definitely your bees and they are disease free you really dont need to wait two days before feeding. The reason you wait to feed a swarm is so that they use up the stores they are carrying to make wax in case they are carrying any disease with them.

If you want them to draw comb fast give them a feed but be aware that once they start drawing comb and there is plenty of forage about they will start to fill it with nectar (and syrup !). Don't be tempted to put a super on when you are feeding.

As for combining ... I wouldn't, the risk is that you combine too soon and produce a big colony which will get bigger and you will get more swarms !! I would leave the virgin to get mated, let the colony grow independently and then much later in the season make a decision about which is the best queen you have and then, oif you really don't want the increase, combine much later in the season with the best queen heading the colony and you can then do one of two things. Keep the other queen and a few frames of bees in a Nuc to overwinter (if she's any good) to sell next spring (and you then, also, have a reserve) or take her to the gatepost.

Thanks as always P, that all makes sense. But it raises other questions. I am trying to sus the logic here.

If I had performed preemptively a demaree (for example) and the larger colony had been in existence (the demaree is a success and I have no swarm) I would now have say a double brood with a number of supers. In short the pre-swarm hive would be larger, with lots of room for the queen to lay.

Why then can I not use this swarm even to bring back to a similar size hive as above? By a manipulation I am achieving the same thing in terms of brood sizes am I not? I get that most apiaries would prefer to have more colonies as it provides for many more options later on and if one has both the apiary space and the kit then this works. But what if is apiary space is limited? I now have 7 colonies and would only like 4 or 5.

 

[pargyle]

The quick answer is that you can ... but ...the more bees in a colony the more bees they are able to nurse and the more bees you will get - this is good from the point of view of getting very productive colonies that in favourable flows will produce a lot of honey ... but you will need to carefully manage the space they have otherwise they will definitely swarm. Plus .... it's one thing going down the demaree route (i.e.: before they get into the idea they are going to swarm) ... it's different once they have made swarm preps as at that stage they seem to have got in to swarm mode and will almost inevitably swarm. Thats why knocking down queen cells does not work as a swarm prevention method ... in some cases it actually enhances their desire to swarm. ...

 

[JonnyPicklechin]

The quick answer is that you can ... but ...the more bees in a colony the more bees they are able to nurse and the more bees you will get - this is good from the point of view of getting very productive colonies that in favourable flows will produce a lot of honey ... but you will need to carefully manage the space they have otherwise they will definitely swarm. Plus .... it's one thing going down the demaree route (i.e.: before they get into the idea they are going to swarm) ... it's different once they have made swarm preps as at that stage they seem to have got in to swarm mode and will almost inevitably swarm. Thats why knocking down queen cells does not work as a swarm prevention method ... in some cases it actually enhances their desire to swarm. ...

Before my "nasty hive" escapades I was watching brood formations and making notes along the lines of Wally Shaw's teachings. Reckon I can have a go at managing. I have already successfully managed 4 hives this season with swarm warnings (NUC method). If I can conquer THAT other problem (which has subverted the whole dynamics of my apiary) I can turn attention to strong honey yielding hives.