My bees are out for the night!..Will they survive? and other questions

[Mamahilz]

The facts followed by questions:
1. Prime swarm from my large hive (inexperience/ poor weather/ bad timing/ etc)
2. Gone to top of tall fir tree in apiary.
3. due to bad weather swarm occurred at 5.30pm during a sunny spell.
4. Too high to safely retrieve. (30ft)
5. Spare brood chamber ready and waiting- up on raised surface (entrance waist high- no other higher place) 2 metres away from original hive
rubbed with actual lemongrass (will this work as well as oil?), 1 frame of honey (?good idea or stupid?...don't have any drawn foundation) and frames of foundation.
6. from 7-8.30pm lots (10-20) of (? scout) bees buzzing around the spare brood chamber (Could these be scouts because its so late and other bees seem to have gone home, or have i stirred up robbers from the remaining 2 hives in my apiary because of putting honey in ?)
7. Night time now- swarm still in tree (Will they survive the night out on a limb, in the rain?)
8. What are the chances they'll go to my spare brood chamber tomorrow?
9. Is it unusual to have a swarm so late in the day?
10. How long will they stay in their initial landing place before moving on?- especially if the weather is poor?
11. Will some of the flying bees return to the original hive? if not why not?
12. If they do decide to move into my new brood chamber, can I relocate it 10 feet in my apiary or do i need to keep it where it is and do a gradual move?

 

[viridens]

Questions which I can answer:

Yes, they will be fine if they remain out even in cold, windy, rainy weather. -Nature has equipped them.

Slight chance they will go to your brood chamber, but cross your fingers. Otherwise, be prepared to follow them if you don't want to wave them goodbye. I don't know if you prepared your brood chamber BEFORE they swarmed, but going to 30ft is not a good sign.

They are very unlikely to move until the weather is similar to/better than that when they swarmed. They will stay until this weather. -Have seen them 'sit tight' for 72 hours.

Swarms will stay with the queen and few if any will drift back. Move 10 ft if you wish.

Good luck!

 

[MuswellMetro]

The facts followed by questions:
1. Prime swarm from my large hive (inexperience/ poor weather/ bad timing/ etc)
2. Gone to top of tall fir tree in apiary.
3. due to bad weather swarm occurred at 5.30pm during a sunny spell.
4. Too high to safely retrieve. (30ft)
5. Spare brood chamber ready and waiting- up on raised surface (entrance waist high- no other higher place) 2 metres away from original hive
rubbed with actual lemongrass (will this work as well as oil?), 1 frame of honey (?good idea or stupid?...don't have any drawn foundation) and frames of foundation.
6. from 7-8.30pm lots (10-20) of (? scout) bees buzzing around the spare brood chamber (Could these be scouts because its so late and other bees seem to have gone home, or have i stirred up robbers from the remaining 2 hives in my apiary because of putting honey in ?)
7. Night time now- swarm still in tree (Will they survive the night out on a limb, in the rain?)
8. What are the chances they'll go to my spare brood chamber tomorrow?
9. Is it unusual to have a swarm so late in the day?
10. How long will they stay in their initial landing place before moving on?- especially if the weather is poor?
11. Will some of the flying bees return to the original hive? if not why not?
12. If they do decide to move into my new brood chamber, can I relocate it 10 feet in my apiary or do i need to keep it where it is and do a gradual move?

robbers not scouts is more likley , remove the frame of honey that was a very bad idea as the swarm will not normally enter a hive being robbed out unless you are lucky

because its beeing robbed it will continue to be investgated by robbing bees for 24hrs puting off the swarm from entering


so move the hive as far away as you can ( 200yds? better than 2yds ) but at least 10ft from the current site

Moving a swarm hive, ok to move anywhere in first 24-48hours, the bees loose their imprinted view of the world when they swarm

unlikey to fly back unless queen dies in next few days and then really not much more than by drifting rather than find their way back


if you are lucky they will find the hive before the heavy rain tomorrow night

suggest you go out now the rain has just stopped in oxford and remove the honey frame and move the hive away from the site is is been rob out at, so it is ready for them to find in the morning

 

[Finno]

I have seen a small side swarm at top of sycamore on very thin "whippy" branch last throughout stormy and windy weather for nine days before it finally moved off

 

[Mamahilz]

Many thanks- This forum is so helpful! I couldn't find answers in the many books I have- experience goes a long way in this craft. will remove the honey, move the hive and rub a few geranium leaves around the area too. Any more advice gratefully received!

 

[YorkshireBees]

In my experience you will be very lucky to attract the swarm to your bait hive unfortunately. I had a swarm last year in a similar position, high up in a tree in a neighbors garden, I put a Nuc on top of a set of folding ladders (approx 10ft in the air) and left it there for several days but no luck they stayed up in the tree in all weather. Eventually, whilst I was away on business, another local beek asked permission to have a go at retrieving them. He had a really long pole with a set of branch loppers on and apparently cut the branch off. He then cobbled together a hive from some old brood / super boxes and place the branch and most of the bees into this hive. By the time I returned the swarm had left!

As for the rest of the advice I agree, remove the honey (only causing robbing) and move your bait hive to another location. Best of luck.

 

[Mamahilz]

Story ends with me having a conversation on the phone with our local swarm liaison officer, with some good advice about putting a frame of brood from the original hive into the bait hive. when I return 10 mins later- entire swarm gone! still put the brood in the bait hive- just incase they still haven't settled...wishful thinking. I'll return it later

 

[viridens]

I thought I said "be prepared to follow them if you don't want to wave them goodbye."! -Not a good idea to take your eyes off of them at this time of day if the weather was good. Ah well.

You may want to print some slips of paper saying something like 'Lost. A swarm of bees. If spotted, please ring xxx. Thanks!' & post these through local letter boxes, shops pub or whatever. Nothing to lose but your time, and you never know. This has worked for me.

Good luck.

 

[Heather]

I brought a swarm down from on high using a very long pole- with a bee less frame of brood tied to it. Just near the swarm- they moved down onto it and I lowered to the ground.