First swarm collection a success (I think)

[Sir Quej]

So I'm a first year beek and I've had my own bees for just over a month. My bees are expanding at a rapid rate of knots and it looks like I might have to super up soon.

Yesterday, someone I know called me saying that the place where they worked (a sheltered accomodation) had a good big swarm of honey bees hanging from the eves of one of the houses, and did I know anyone who could collect it.

I decided to go and collect it myself. So off I went with my box. By the time I got there, the swarm had moved and was sitting in a bush at the perfect height to be collected. I couldnt believe my luck to be honest. It couldnt have been in a better position, at the edge of the bush with a wall just below it for me to put my box on.

So I made sure there were no kids playing nearby and asked a couple of house owners either side to close their windows (just to be safe). Laid my box on the wall, trimmed the bush around the swarm and with one hefty shake of the branch, 90% of the bees were in the box. I closed the box, with just a small hole to allow the flying bees in and left it sat on the wall for a few hours until dusk. With all the flyers in the box, I taped it up and chucked them in the boot.

Tonight, I have transferred the bees into a nuc at a location well away from my own bees. I intend to keep them well seperated incase of disease but the hived swarm has been fed and left with nice new fresh frames. I am not planning to disturb them now for 2 weeks apart from changing feed so hopefully they will settle in and become my 2nd hive.

Any advice?

 

[susbees]

Yes, a "good big swarm of honey bees" wouldn't fit in a nuc, it would need a full box straight off. Quite a few swarms I've taken this year have been nucs swarming (with queens laying within two or three days). Make sure they have enough space...

...also your first hive, how many frames of brood does it have?

 

[Sir Quej]

On inspection yesterday, it had 5 frames with brood and stores round the edges on both sides, they had drawn out another two frames and were well on wirh two more.

From what you say, I obviously got a bit excited about the size of the swarm then (new beek enthusiasm I guess). there werent too many bees for the 6 frame nuc that I put them in. They definately have enough space for the time being.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

As an aside - I wouldn't feed the swarm for a few days ; let them use all the honey they brought with them to make wax so any nasties it's carrying will be locked up safely in the new comb

 

[oliver90owner]

You are also over excited with your original hive. Brood nest spreading onto 5 frames is still quite small, as I don't expect for one moment all of those five frames are completely full of brood. It has likely progressed from three fames of brood to five in a month, good steady development but not startling, with another six or seven frames available, it will depend on the weather and forage as to how they progress. Hopefully it will accelerate as the bee population increases. Soon in my book is probbaly at the next inspection/check. No point in looking too far ahead as there are too many variables. Being ready for that time is very important, but when it actually arives is somewhat without your control.

 

[Luminos]

Well done, Sir Quej

 

[Sir Quej]

You are also over excited with your original hive. Brood nest spreading onto 5 frames is still quite small, as I don't expect for one moment all of those five frames are completely full of brood. It has likely progressed from three fames of brood to five in a month, good steady development but not startling, with another six or seven frames available, it will depend on the weather and forage as to how they progress. Hopefully it will accelerate as the bee population increases. Soon in my book is probbaly at the next inspection/check. No point in looking too far ahead as there are too many variables. Being ready for that time is very important, but when it actually arives is somewhat without your control.

Thanks for dampening my enthusiasm oliver.....lol

How long do you think it is likely to be before I need to add a super?

You are correct when you say it's gone from three frames of brood to five in about a month.

 

[Sir Quej]

Well done, Sir Quej

Thanks Luminos

 

[Poly Hive]

My standard for supering is 8+ good frames of brood.

What you have to remember is adding a super is a further 50% of space and bees love to be cosy as do you and I. They need the power to maintain the brood temperature with that extension over head.

They "should" next week be on 7 frames and nine the week after, so that is a reasonably realistic time scale. Weather though of course may well hold that back.

Good luck, and its amazing how that "massive" swarm shrinks in a hive...

PH

 

[Sir Quej]

its amazing how that "massive" swarm shrinks in a hive...

PH

Yeah, to me it was about as big as a house at first, but I'm still in that stage of the hobby where Everything associated with bees is a total marvel and everything seems just that little bit bigger and brighter than it probably is....

I'm sure a bit of experience will soon bring me down to earth with a thud... lol

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[susbees]

You are also over excited with your original hive. Brood nest spreading onto 5 frames is still quite small...

Which is why I asked the question. Had half an hour on the phone with a new beekeeper last night who amongst other things like leaving on his OSR on one hive waiting for full capping had supered a second at five drawn frames and was excited that his bees were drawing it...til I asked whether they were drawing the box downstairs for brood and stores. Nope. Bees like to go up.

Off to rescue a cast a non beekeeper put in a cardboard box and left in the rain. Hope they can swim...

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sir Quej]

Assuming the swarm is disease free throughout the year, will I be ok to move it to the site of my existing apiary, or would you recommend against that?

 

[the beehive lodge]

Congratulations

sounds that you did the right thing and in the right order good luck with them dont forget to give a few jars of honey for the people in the home hat of to you

 

[beeno]

Assuming the swarm is disease free throughout the year, will I be ok to move it to the site of my existing apiary, or would you recommend against that?

Hi Sir Quej,
A bit of enthusiasm. Great, let's not knock it and it's not over football. I am a 2nd year beek who had all the probs that I was supposed to have this year last year. I do not think the quarantine period is that long someone else will come along and tell you. It will not be long before you can move the new swarm into your Apiary next to your other hive. Swarm collection is a very satisfying experience as people are very grateful when you take the bees away and they know that they are not going to be killed. Enjoy.

 

[oliver90owner]

Thanks for dampening my enthusiasm oliver.....lol

Not particularly trying to dampen it, just trying to inject a little realism - you are not the only reader of your thread and all the ooh's and ahh's get swallowed up by most of the new beeks and then they, too, think 'super soon'.

I'm sure a bit of experience will soon bring me down to earth with a thud

Don't allow that. Exaggeration is rife amongst new beeks. Keep the expectations a bit more realistic and any 'coming down from a high' will be easier and less of a crash. Think about it - having expectations that are too high will always mean not hitting target!

I would not want to give any set dates - as I always say bees don't work to dates and I think PH might be over-optimistic by a week or two, should the season progress in a similar vein to that we have received so far! But all things can change and your regular inpections should give you an indication of their progress. Graph it out and the expansion line should be better than a linear line, Outside influences can easily change that. If PH is right with his guess, all well and good, but don't count on it - take what you are given.

Keep your eye on the stores situation; less feeding is good, but dead hives are of no use to anyone, so there is a balance and your experience, or lack of, means you must err on the safe side or check more frequently.

Remember each kilo of wax needs at least the equivalent of 5 kilos of honey; more brood means more more food has to be sourced, so stores levels may not be so good if the colony is expanding quickly with a relatively small foraging force - but that is what you strive for, more bees. A few days of continual rain can be a tipping point; a few days of sunshine and they may be going great.

We have no idea whether you are rural or actually in urban Leeds and that can make a difference if they are foraging local or have to go further afield.

We have no idea of the provenance of your queen, either. Some will be OK on a single brood box, others scream out for double that.

Some make brood at the expense of all else, some bees regulate the queen's lay rate according to the weather and other factors, and some seem to be really slow.

So be quietly optimistic and accept what comes, is my advice.

RAB

 

[village girl]

lol we are bee keepers not fishamen we exagerate the ones we collect not the ones that got away, you should see the size of the swarm we collected today it would fill two hives ok maybe a nuc with room to gro , but i dont think it realy matters it is so exciting and satesfing to sucsesfully collect a swarm/cast, and rehome them, well done :,

 

[coffin dodger]

lol we are bee keepers not fishamen we exagerate the ones we collect not the ones that got away, you should see the size of the swarm we collected today it would fill two hives ok maybe a nuc with room to gro , but i dont think it realy matters it is so exciting and satesfing to sucsesfully collect a swarm/cast, and rehome them, well done :,

Agreed, my first (one and only) swarm was amazing to see, it seemed to me to be immense at the time, as I later learned, it was just a small cast but the entire thing gave me a real buzz (no pun intended) I'd love to be able to do it all again

Regards
Ray

 

[susbees]

Detailed discussion with boxer of swarm....seems that it was dwindling remnants of "large swarm" "collected" by well known beekeeper....estimated at 60 bees...
Yes six zero...so I didn't go.

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[Sir Quej]

Right, I have my first bit of concern regarding this swarm. Hopefully it will turn out to be unfounded.

So i went to put some new feed on the nuc box that this swarm is currently housed in. it was late in the evening (8pm) so I didnt want to disturb the bees too much but I had a very quick peek inside the nuc box as a quick check.

The bees are all there but were all clustered on one side of the nuc? It didnt look (at first glance) like they were drawing any of the frames? As i said, i didnt open it up properly because it was so late so I might be mistaken. I'm going to do an inspection tonight or on Saturday afternoon to check for sure but does anyone think that there might be a problem with this swarm?

The details are:

They are in a five frame NUC that i built myself from 18mm plywood.
The exterior of the wood is painted with Ronseal Fencelife (everything that I have read says this is ok...even Ronseal themselves have said this apparently).
Interior is untouched.
The Nuc has a bottom that is about 50% solid / 50% open (made with queen excluder)
The roof of the nuc is covered with plastic for waterprrofing (comes halfway down)

I am feeding them using an overturned jam jar (this has been totally dry everytime I have gone to replace it, which i have done every 3rd day)

The day after I first put them in the hive, they were bringing in pollen (I saw some coming in)

Am I not feeding them enough or was it maybe just due to the time i looked in that they were clustered on one side?

As i say, I'm going to do a proper inspection tonight hopefully, but if not, definately on Saturday.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[beeno]

Hi again Sir Quej,
With regard to the above I was told by an ex-bee inspector that a nuc should always have a solid floor as the bees need as much warmth as possible. They cannot draw comb if they are too cold for example. Also, I always 'watch my back' and do the same for my bees an open floor with queen excluder mesh will let robbing bees in should the occasion arise! Wish me luck with my emergency virgins in my nuc!