Just caught swarm now what?

[rbaz]

I was late doing an AS (was about to do it) and they have just swarmed. They settled on the ground on a bush so I managed to cut the branches and get them into a new hive
I have moved them approx 4 meters to the side of the original hive. I only had foundation so they have a lot of work to do. Should I feed them 1-1 now?

Should I check the old hive and remove all but a couple of cells? (unless they have already emerged) I also have a super on the old hive that they are drawing out with foundation will there be enough workers to complete this or should I remove the super?

I am wanting to move the hives to a new site would you move them as soon as the QC emerge or would you wait until the new queen has mated and is laying.

Thanks for the help its my second year and first swarm so appreciate the help.

 

[beesleybees]

I was late doing an AS (was about to do it) and they have just swarmed. They settled on the ground on a bush so I managed to cut the branches and get them into a new hive
I have moved them approx 4 meters to the side of the original hive. I only had foundation so they have a lot of work to do. Should I feed them 1-1 now?

no, wait 3 to 4 days for them to use up there reserves and then feed 1:1 to help draw out foundation

Should I check the old hive and remove all but a couple of cells? (unless they have already emerged)

yes, remove all but 2 good cells to ensure no casts follow

I am wanting to move the hives to a new site would you move them as soon as the QC emerge or would you wait until the new queen has mated and is laying.

leave at least 3-4 weeks to give the queen a chance to get mated. Once she is proven, move as you wish

 

[rbaz]

Thanks for the help. Have just removed 4 sealed Queen cells think I have left 3 in there. They were very close together didn't want to risk damaging them.
Still lots of bees left in the hive with the amount in the swarm I thought there would be less.
Sorry no full swarm photo the wife doesn’t know how to rush to get the camera
Placing them in the hive.

All in

Back on the stand job done all in time for the F1

 

[warts]

Nice photos. Pretty location. Good luck with the bees

 

[rbaz]

I checked on the new swarm hive (with old queen) and found almost 5 frames drawn out and some honey/pollen in them very impressed for 3 days work and found the original marked queen present. I added some 1-1 feed to help them out, next week’s weather is not looking good so will keep it topped up.

With the old hive should I leave this alone for a couple of weeks let the new queen emerge and hopefully get mated? I have a spare nuc ready if I get any cast swarms but hopefully not.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[tonybloke]

I would go in and destroy al q/c's but one. (tried the 'leave 2 cells sketch' and got a cast, and a DLQ to finish with)
if they are close together, a needle or hat pin will do the job, without disturbing the one you want to keep.

 

[oliver90owner]

A bit late for this, but in future....

I only had foundation so they have a lot of work to do.

Is that not the normal situation? Some bees may swarm and find a recently vacated ready-built home, but not often. In nature they would not even have frames and foundation supplied, so starting from scratch. That's the way they do it, and have done for millenia.

no, wait 3 to 4 days for them to use up there reserves and then feed 1:1 to help draw out foundation

You could safely feed straight away as you know the provenance! 3 day wait is for swarms of unknown health. If the weather is good (ha ha, this year) a large swarm will likely get on with the job without feeding. But this year it is likely to accelerate them initially.

 

[Poly Hive]

Leave them the youngest cell. And only one.

PH

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Leave one open queencell in the hive with the larva floating in lashings of royal jelly. (Then you know it's viable and you know how long you've got before it emerges - 8 days from sealed). Mark the top of the frame with a pin so you know where it is. Destroy the rest. Check again 5 - 8 days later and destroy any emergency queencells by shaking the frames first as they can be hidden. Do NOT shake the wanted queencell. If you leave 2 queencells, there's a fair chance of you getting a caste which you don't want I assume. Once you have done the above, leave for 3 weeks from emergence date but ensuring there is enough food.
Feed the swarm (1:1) and it will enable them to draw out some excellent comb quickly. A decent sized swarm will consume a litre a day quite easily. A mated queen should be laying in a few days.

 

[rbaz]

Thanks everyone for the help. I went back in today to remove all but one QC.
Good job I did as I found 3 others on a frame I missed.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Good job I did as I found 3 others on a frame I missed.

We've all done that!