My first hive

[manek]

Exciting times have arrived – bee-wise. My first hive is now populated by a collected swarm, so I thought I'd share the experience.

Last night, I closed the hive entrance, put the queen excluder under the brood box, knocked the swarm into the brood box with just foundation, and went home.

This morning early, I removed the wooden floor, opened the entrance, and gave them a feeder filled with 2:1 sugar solution inside an empty super. A few minutes observation saw foragers starting to emerge.

On the wooden floor I saw no mites but there were some wax flakes – which suggests to my inexperienced eyes that they've started drawing comb already. Is this right?

I'm planning to remove the QE tonight or tomorrow morning. Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[enrico]

Personally I would be feeding 1:1 sugar, as that is better for wax production but 2:1 will do. I might also not have started feeding immediately as a proper swarm has stores ingested to use first. But you have done nothing 'wrong' so well done and good luck
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Keep the inspection board in for a week or so - swarms settle better when their new home is completely enclosed, get the QX away in a day or two - you may have a virgin in there desperate to mate.
Personally I would have held off with the feed for three days or so to make sure they use up all the stores they brought with them on wax making

 

[manek]

Thanks for the feedback.

The reason I thought it was wise to feed was because the frames contain just foundation, so they might need extra food before they can start storing supplies. I'll keep an eye on what they store and if they seem to be storing sugar solution, I'll stop!

I'll pop the floor back in tonight.

 

[Eyeman]

The reason I thought it was wise to feed was because the frames contain just foundation, so they might need extra food before they can start storing supplies. I'll keep an eye on what they store and if they seem to be storing sugar solution, I'll stop!

You are correct in feeding a 1:1 syrup will speed up the process of drawing foundation especially if the weather is poor or there isn't much forage available,
Not feeding for 3 days is said to reduce the risk of one of the foul brood diseases being transmitted to your new hive from the swarms stored honey crop-should they have come from an infected hive.
I personally also keep all swarms that don't come from my bees in a quarantine apiary (my garden ) until I've had a chance to inspect the brood for any signs of disease.
Some would say this was a bit OTT.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The reason I thought it was wise to feed was because the frames contain just foundation, so they might need extra food before they can start storing supplies.

What they initially do is convert honey into wax - they will have carried quite a bit of honey in their honey stomachs when they swarm for this purpose (and for food) It's good practice not to feed syrup to the swarm until they have gone through these stores, as Eyeman says they may be carrying some disease spores in the honey they brought with them - if they convert it to wax these spores will be 'locked in' to the wax and can't affect the new colony.

 

[YorkshireBees]

...
I personally also keep all swarms that don't come from my bees in a quarantine apiary (my garden ) until I've had a chance to inspect the brood for any signs of disease.
Some would say this was a bit OTT.

Not OTT very sensible advice imho however OP did mention it is their 1st hive so no problems of possible spread of disease to existing colonies this time.
I do exactly the same, it's the only time I have bees in my garden besides Nucs being collected.

As to the advice about when to feed, before I switched to collecting swarms in a polynuc I used to use an old cardboard box (wine box) and occasionally I had to leave them in a cool / dark place overnight before putting them in a hive. More than one I was surprised by how much comb they had built in 12hrs or less!

 

[Eyeman]

As to the advice about when to feed, before I switched to collecting swarms in a polynuc I used to use an old cardboard box (wine box) and occasionally I had to leave them in a cool / dark place overnight before putting them in a hive. More than one I was surprised by how much comb they had built in 12hrs or less!

My swarm collecting kit comprises a plastic bucket. Once inside I now always leave them in the bucket overnight before transferring to their new home. The overnight stint means they are totally calm and can just be 'poured' gently into their new home. Never any flying around and not had any abscond yet!
The inside of the bucket gets peppered with wax in the same way as your box.

 

[beeno]

Hi Manek,
How exciting is that! Best of luck with them. I think you did the right thing to feed as we are in the June gap and the weather is not good for foraging at the moment. My little swarm I collected on Sunday was too starving to fan at the swarm box entrance, despite the fact that their very large mated queen was in there. But soon perked up in the poly nuc after being fed. She is laying and they are collecting pollen. However, they were given two drawn combs.

 

[manek]

Hi Manek,
How exciting is that! Best of luck with them. I think you did the right thing to feed as we are in the June gap and the weather is not good for foraging at the moment. My little swarm I collected on Sunday was too starving to fan at the swarm box entrance, despite the fact that their very large mated queen was in there. But soon perked up in the poly nuc after being fed. She is laying and they are collecting pollen. However, they were given two drawn combs.

Thanks! Yes, very exciting - a bit unnerving with the appalling weather we're having right now though. They won't be foraging in high wind and rain.

I'm resisting going to take a look until tomorrow...

 

[manek]

I didn't resist.

The colony looks like it's doing OK. In a few minutes' observation, I saw quite a few foragers flying in and out, a couple of fanners, and no sign of dead bodies outside the hive. I think I saw a few drones too (only a handful) but I'm not experienced enough yet to be positive.

So I removed the QE from under the brood box, and checked the feeder in the empty super. A few were feeding from it, and the mixture level was it's not much lower than yesterday - about half-full.

I didn't remove any brood box frames but could see that most of the bees were clustered around one area across about three frames, the rest were empty, so I assumed they're not pushed for space yet, and put the feeder and empty super back on. And inserted the floor board.

I'll probably go back tomorrow - just to observe...

 

[manek]

I took another look at the hive today. The round feeder was almost empty but the weather remains cool, so I topped it back up to halfway. The bees are still clustering around one area of just two or three frames but are feeding strongly.

I see foragers leaving and returning. I also found 12 dead bees on the floor board.

The bees have been in the hive for four days now. Should I open the brood box and take a closer look, or leave them be?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Leave them be - a healthy colony will have loads of bees dying every day

 

[manek]

Quick update - in ten days, not much seems to have changed.

My guess is that since it's now 10 days since I dumped the swarm into the brood box and it takes three weeks to hatch workers, so until that period passes, I'll have to assume that all is well.

I've not yet removed any frames for inspection (presuming it's best to leave them alone until the colony is properly established). Should I now do so - just to reassure myself that this is in fact the case?

Also, I'm still feeding on the basis that there's not much flow out there (poor weather, late June gap), and because I'm not expecting to take much if any honey this year anyway, so the issue of storing feed in honey cells doesn't really arise. Am I on the right lines?

Thanks.

 

[Cussword]

I would inspect now. If you have a laying queen you should be seeing eggs, larva, and sealed brood. Don't worry too much if there are none, the swarm may have been headed by a virgin, that will take a little longer.

Good luck.

.

 

[enrico]

I get the feeling you are putting the first inspection off! It is a bit scary, go for it while the bees are quiet. Pick a nice sunny spot in the day with no wind and take your time. If they 'boil' out then gently close it up and get some help. The first inspection is ...... Exciting. I remember mine and that was 35 odd years ago! More fun if you have an experienced someone to point out things on the frames as you go and help you if you panic!
Good luck
E

 

[manek]

I get the feeling you are putting the first inspection off! It is a bit scary, go for it while the bees are quiet. Pick a nice sunny spot in the day with no wind and take your time. If they 'boil' out then gently close it up and get some help. The first inspection is ...... Exciting. I remember mine and that was 35 odd years ago! More fun if you have an experienced someone to point out things on the frames as you go and help you if you panic!
Good luck
E

>I get the feeling you are putting the first inspection off!
Yes, on the button! I'll go and take a look tomorrow pm - sunny with showers is predicted, so I'll pick a rain-free gap.

Thanks for your encouragement - it's much appreciated and does help!

 

[BeeJayBee]

>I get the feeling you are putting the first inspection off!
Yes, on the button! I'll go and take a look tomorrow pm - sunny with showers is predicted, so I'll pick a rain-free gap.

Thanks for your encouragement - it's much appreciated and does help!

You'll be fine, once you've opened the hive time will pass more quickly than you imagine and it'll probably be at least half an hour before you're ready to close it up again.

Remember to light your smoker before you zip up your veil, and then remember to fasten the zip!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

You'll be fine, once you've opened the hive time will pass more quickly than you imagine and it'll probably be at least half an hour before you're ready to close it up again.

Remember to light your smoker before you zip up your veil, and then remember to fasten the zip!

And transfer your phone to an outside pocket for use in an emergency without opening your suit.

 

[JWF]

And transfer your phone to an outside pocket for use in an emergency without opening your suit.

And switch off vibrate so you don't think you've got a bee in your suit when someone calls!