Help,are my bees going to swarm.

[barratt_sab]

MrB and PH - thanks for the direction and the advice. I'm way too new to try anything that sounds that hard & looks that complex!

 

[MrB]

MrB and PH - thanks for the direction and the advice. I'm way too new to try anything that sounds that hard & looks that complex!

Yeah, me too !

 

[Hivemaker.]

FT......if made up in the same apairy,feed the nuc with the queen in if they have solid frames of brood, and not much stores.They will have very few foragers to bring in the food needed.

 

[Friar Tuck]

No need to feed no.

Lessons to be considered. Enough kit? Right kit? Prepared for swarming?

PH

Umm yes lessons indeed.

Enough kit = Nope (can you ever have enough )

Right Kit = Nope

Prepared for swarming = Um No it all happened very fast.

But i Have lived and i have learned and i had fun

 

[Tom Bick]

It can be a bit exciting at times FT.

So just a note what did you do with the QC's in the parent hive if you left them in place you may have a number of cast swarms over the next week or so, or did you remove all but the best QC and intend to re cheque in 4 days time.

 

[Friar Tuck]

I removed all the QC apart from the capped cell. then i came back to this tread to find out i should have removed the capped cell and left one open cup. this would give me 8 days so on so on. But that did not happen.

So i have 1 capped QC. I suspect they will probably make more queen cells this week, and my virgin may still swam.

Did i do the right thing Nope Did i learn Yes.

 

[Tom Bick]

What you dont know is that QC may be empty and as the bees had not swarmed perhaps they know something you dont know?. It is better to chose one that you can see inside but its not the end of the world you have the original queen in the new hive and you have options if it is empty.

Re cheque both hives in 4 days look for any new qc's in the original hive its up to you to decide if you stay with the capped one or go with a new open one ( providing you have any) but remove all the others and then leave the hive alone for 3 weeks. Also check the new hive for any qc's it is still possible that they may still want to swarm and also you may have missed a qc on one of the three frames you moved over.

 

[BKF Admin]

Umm yes lessons indeed.

Enough kit = Nope (can you ever have enough )

Right Kit = Nope

Prepared for swarming = Um No it all happened very fast.

But i Have lived and i have learned and i had fun

I think you would be shocked if you new just how many beekeepers with a single hive get caught out when they go into swarm mode.
Like you say lesson learned,I bet you will have a spare hive ready next year

 

[Friar Tuck]

I did have a spare hive, but it was so poor the frames did not fit there is gaps places there should not be. etc. Anyway i bodged it together. Ive got a friend sorting me out a replacement hive as we speak. Need to order some frames asap to replace non spacing ones i have chucked in the nuc hive at the moment. LOL

 

[Friar Tuck]

I went down to see the bees last night. lots of activity in the original hive. pollen coming in, heavy landings, busy as bees.

Nuc hive nothing happening, no-one flying, no sign of bees. i did only transfer them on Sunday with a very generous shake of new bee's maybe 4 frames of shake.

Thought i would give the old queen plenty of bees to help her as i am sure that a %age would just fly off back home.

when i am i likely to see new bees on orientation flights?

when should i open up the nuc to see if all is well?

have not put the feeder on yet will do tonight !

 

[Friar Tuck]

Checked the hives again last night. test flights beeind done from the nuc hive.
looks like all is going well. going to do a full inspection Thursday ( 4 days after as recommended )

thanks for all your help people