How to stop bees from flying home?

[popcornpie]

A quick question or two!

A friend is letting me have some bees that recently swarmed from one of her hives. She lives about half a mile away. How do I stop them from flying back to her garden?

Also, it was the second swarm to come out of her hive so she thinks it must be an unmated queen. Do I need to do anything special to get them off to a good start?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[popcornpie]

I should add that I already have one strong hive but recently lost my second hive due to laying workers.

 

[BernardBlack]

Hmm, never thought about this before.

If her hive swarmed, and gathered in a nearby tree, would they return to that tree or the original hive?

But don't you have to take your swarm further than 3 miles from their home? They can then be moved back within a week or two.

More experienced keepers will confirm though, but that's my understanding.

 

[pargyle]

Hmm, never thought about this before.

If her hive swarmed, and gathered in a nearby tree, would they return to that tree or the original hive?

But don't you have to take your swarm further than 3 miles from their home? They can then be moved back within a week or two.

More experienced keepers will confirm though, but that's my understanding.

You can put a fresh swarm you have collected anywhere you like, but .. if they have been put in a box and left somewhere for more than a day - the bees will have oriented to that location and will return to it.

So - OP - if they are in a box that has been half a mile away for more than a day then you will need to move them (ideally) three miles away - they say for two weeks but I reckon a week is enough - before moving them back to half a mile away from their previous location.

If it's a caste swarm the odds are that it will be a virgin so I would wait until she has got mated and is laying in their present site before moving them.

 

[popcornpie]

Thank you Pargyle for your clear advice as always. Looks like I need to practise my patience once more!

 

[bingevader]

Magic twigs!
Mind you, I'm only speaking from experience here, not something I've just read in a book or on a forum.
On the occasions we've had to do similar, moving bees over a short distance, more than 3 metres and less than 3 miles, we've tried to force the bees to reorientate to the new hive location.
We've closed up the hive in the evening and moved it and then left it until the following morning.
It doesn't necessarily have to be twigs, but something that partially obscures the exit, forcing the bees to deviate from their expected route when you re-open the hive.
We've used grasses laid across the entrance, so the bees have to come out around or force their way through, also leafy branches and even one of the apiary signs moved to about a foot from the entrance.
If you watch them, you'll see them circling around reorientating to the new position.
We've always left a nuc in the original position (for days) in case it was a complete disaster and have only had 10s (20 to 30 at most) return to the original site.
Might just be good fortune on our part as I've no scientific data to back it up, but if you're stuck it might be worth a go.

 

[For want of a better word]

Possibly leave a Nuc at the place you have moved them from for any bees that do return to roost in?

Yeghes da

 

[popcornpie]

Thanks everyone. Magic twigs! I'll let you know how I get on. Think I will definitely wait till the queen is laying before trying though.

 

[bjosephd]

Seems very early to hope to get a queen mated.

I was marking a queen today and worried that it was foolish as if I damaged her then getting a new queen mated would seem raaather unlikely.

Din't really want to import a queen. Don't know any other way of getting a mated queen at this time of year?

Unless people sell queens that are over wintered somehow, but without the nuc they wintered in.

 

[madasafish]

Seems very early to hope to get a queen mated.

I was marking a queen today and worried that it was foolish as if I damaged her then getting a new queen mated would seem raaather unlikely.

Din't really want to import a queen. Don't know any other way of getting a mated queen at this time of year?

Unless people sell queens that are over wintered somehow, but without the nuc they wintered in.

I'll be starting Queen rearing in 2 weeks time. Drones here and enough drone brood for them to mature by mid May when Virgins will be flying to mate..

 

[JWF]

I had my first swarm here at the weekend. The bees think it's early enough in sunny Kent!