Making a caught swarm stay put

[FortunaHill]

Hi all, I have taken on a new site recently to set up a new apiary and it's going GREAT! Right next door to a rapeseed field and bang in the middle of a load of other fields. Anyway, I've caught four swarms so far this season and one of them was HUGE! Problem is, I've put all of them in this new apiary and so far, only one of the swarms have stayed put. Now, comparing this to my other apiary site, I've never had a problem. 100% of the swarms I've caught and put in the other apiary have stayed in the hive they've been moved into.

I don't understand what's going on. How can I have 100% success at moving a swarm into a hive at one site and only 25% success at the other site? I'm doing nothing different whatsoever and the nectar flow in the site where I have 100% success at is much lower than the site I have 25% success at.

I put the swarm in, come back the next day and the hive they're placed in is completely empty. Poof. Gone.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I does sometimes happen, thinking about the few that I have had abscond I would say that they have all been large prime swarms but I've no reason to assume that's the reason.
With prime swarms you could always put a queen excluder at the entrance as I haven't had a swarm abscond once there is brood open evident. Or what I have done is put a frame with open brood into the box to hold them.
Why they should abscond with such a bounty of forage is a mystery but maybe they don't see the proximity of a large mono crop as such a good thing? Maybe they prefer an area of more mixed flora?

 

[WoodenBeam]

I would think a case of just bad luck - it’s a very swarmy start to the year around Suffolk, build up has been excellent which has moved things along quickly. Maybe a frame of drawn comb would encourage to stay.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Maybe the scouts have already made the decision where the next home is and consensus reached before you caught the swarm

 

[Dodge]

Maybe the scouts have already made the decision where the next home is and consensus reached before you caught the swarm

Certainly that may well be the case. If the swarms where collected locally to the new appiary and late in the day / early evening I would agree, albeit 4 doing it would be very unlucky.

 

[magor]

what floor ? solid or mesh?

 

[mbc]

A donor frame from another hive with some open brood will help them stick, they need to be really bloody minded to abandon open brood.

 

[PeaBee]

Pro with a frame of open brood from a donor hive is that they are more likely to stay put the Con is that if they are carrying any disease in their gut there is not the break for them to purge it and so could introduce it. I would not use a brood frame with a random caught swarm but would if it was one of my own. There was an article in a recent bbka mag about it.

 

[Dodge]

Yes, if its a swarm from an unknown source then use foundation or starter strips only. If the bees are carrying anything nasty in their honey crop then they will consume it to stay alive or build comb then defecate anything remaining including spores away from the hive; nothing can be done about external pathogens. If you introduce drawn comb or brood then they will start making bee bread to bed / feed the eggs and larvae and this will contain pathogens.

Read up on the life cycle of EFB then AFB and it will be one clear and logical.