Newbie with a swarm of someone wants it......

[OhBeehave]

Hi, I’m an absolute newbie!! Anyway, we got our hive set up in April with a nucleus and I have just come home and found that they have swarmed! Due to my lack of experience I have not got round to purchasing a second brood box or hive for such an event as I thought I had plenty of time starting with a new queen and nucleus
So if anyone wants them we are between Ashford and Canterbury in Kent. Postcode is TN25 6BJ.
They are currently in a tree approx 7 foot off the ground near the hive and easy to get to.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi, I’m an absolute newbie!! Anyway, we got our hive set up in April with a nucleus and I have just come home and found that they have swarmed! Due to my lack of experience I have not got round to purchasing a second brood box or hive for such an event as I thought I had plenty of time starting with a new queen and nucleus
So if anyone wants them we are between Ashford and Canterbury in Kent. Postcode is TN25 6BJ.
They are currently in a tree approx 7 foot off the ground near the hive and easy to get to.

Back to your surviving hive.
Look inside tomorrow and choose a queen cell that is open with a pool of white royal jelly there and a fat larva. Mark the frame. Check there are no more queen cells on it. Brush the bees off to look. Shake the bees off the rest of the frames to find and remove every other queen cell you find.
Look in again in a week to remove any other queen cells they make.
If you don’t do this you will get more swarms.
How often have you been looking in?

 

[OhBeehave]

Hi, thanks for your reply! I last looked in 3 weeks ago and didn’t notice anything but I wasn’t looking for queen cells...
There still seems to be loads of activity at the hive entrance with bees coming and going.
I will follow your advice to the letter tomorrow and see what is in there and take some photos.
I was under the impression ( wrongly) that it was unlikely that a new nucleus/hive will swarm.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi, thanks for your reply! I last looked in 3 weeks ago and didn’t notice anything but I wasn’t looking for queen cells...
There still seems to be loads of activity at the hive entrance with bees coming and going.
I will follow your advice to the letter tomorrow and see what is in there and take some photos.
I was under the impression ( wrongly) that it was unlikely that a new nucleus/hive will swarm.

Run out of space.
Have you got supers on?
You should be looking every 7 days

 

[OhBeehave]

Photo attached of the swarm, shame they look so happy!

 

[OhBeehave]

I have 2 supers on it already

 

[pargyle]

Nip to your local argos ... pick up one of these boxes -

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8381044?clickPR=plp:17:51
Drill a half inch hole near the bottom for an entrance and chuck the swarm in ... That's a nice swarm and they are your bees ..£200 worth of them. They will keep in the storage box for a day or two or longer if you do a bit of work to it - they will build free comb down from the lid but it's not an issue ... if you have any spare frames put some frames in the box and they might take pity on you and start building on them....

Or cut a few bits of 2 x 1 timber and wedge them across the top of the box to give them something other than box lid to build on ... if you are anything of a DIY'er screw a couple of 2 x 1 to the inside of the sides of the box to provide a couple of ledges for the bars to sit on. Sort of a temporary mini, instant, Top bar hive.

Buys you a bit of time to get a second hive of some sort bought, begged or bodged up.

Needs must when the devil drives ....

It's an easy swarm to collect and a second colony is such a useful aseet.

107th Myth of beekeeping - bees don't swarm in their first year .... tell that to all those first year beekeepers who have lost swarms ..

 

[drex]

I have 2 supers on it already

But are they available for her to lay in? Is there any free space in the brood box?

 

[pargyle]

But are they available for her to lay in? Is there any free space in the brood box?

IE: Has the hive got a queen excluder above the brood box ? And are the brood frames full of brood and honey stores ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

IE: Has the hive got a queen excluder above the brood box ? And are the brood frames full of brood and honey stores ?

He's looking in tomorrow. Not looked in 3 weeks
Let's wait and see

 

[pargyle]

He's looking in tomorrow. Not looked in 3 weeks
Let's wait and see

OMG ... 3 weeks at this time of the year ? Rather chancing his arm I fear ...

 

[Erichalfbee]

OMG ... 3 weeks at this time of the year ? Rather chancing his arm I fear ...

Beginners are getting little support

 

[pargyle]

Beginners are getting little support

I know ... I think it's the same everywhere - but what's scary is that there is so little basic knowledge - did they just dive in and get bees without reading anything ?

 

[hemo]

Photo attached of the swarm, shame they look so happy!

Have you not got the nuc box the colony originally arrived in ?

 

[hemo]

I was under the impression ( wrongly) that it was unlikely that a new nucleus/hive will swarm.

They require hands on management to see to their needs, this means esp now the weather has perked up and is here to stay till at least a week Saturday every week. The queen needs room to lay, the BB can become clogged with pollen and nectar as a lot will have seen in the last week with warm sunny weather. Likely the supers are only foundation, if they haven't drawn them out quick enough then there is nowhere to store the nectar.

Looks like you may need a local mentor but short of that keep asking away on the forum for advice and help, we are here to help if you need it.
One of your main problems going forward is the lack lack of equipment you will need another hive and likely at some stage this year another super or two.

 

[Do224]

Nip to your local argos ... pick up one of these boxes -

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8381044?clickPR=plp:17:51
Drill a half inch hole near the bottom for an entrance and chuck the swarm in ... That's a nice swarm and they are your bees ..£200 worth of them. They will keep in the storage box for a day or two or longer if you do a bit of work to it - they will build free comb down from the lid but it's not an issue ... if you have any spare frames put some frames in the box and they might take pity on you and start building on them....

Or cut a few bits of 2 x 1 timber and wedge them across the top of the box to give them something other than box lid to build on ... if you are anything of a DIY'er screw a couple of 2 x 1 to the inside of the sides of the box to provide a couple of ledges for the bars to sit on. Sort of a temporary mini, instant, Top bar hive.

Buys you a bit of time to get a second hive of some sort bought, begged or bodged up.

Needs must when the devil drives ....

It's an easy swarm to collect and a second colony is such a useful aseet.

107th Myth of beekeeping - bees don't swarm in their first year .... tell that to all those first year beekeepers who have lost swarms ..

Would those Argos boxes work as swarm traps do you think? They’re a bargain at £8....just wonder if they would heat up too much in the sun and whether they would be rain proof.

 

[hemo]

At the mo newbies are in at the deep end with little support form some quarters.
As erichalfbee aka Dani has said carefully check for any QC, don't rashly start removing any until you have decide which one to keep for now (in time with experience one can leave two or three and then make a timely check to reduce to one later) . Once decided which one use a drawing pin pushed in to the top bar so you know the position of the QC. As mentioned by Dani select a QC with a nice larvae it.

 

[OhBeehave]

Nip to your local argos ... pick up one of these boxes -

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8381044?clickPR=plp:17:51
Drill a half inch hole near the bottom for an entrance and chuck the swarm in ... That's a nice swarm and they are your bees ..£200 worth of them. They will keep in the storage box for a day or two or longer if you do a bit of work to it - they will build free comb down from the lid but it's not an issue ... if you have any spare frames put some frames in the box and they might take pity on you and start building on them....

Or cut a few bits of 2 x 1 timber and wedge them across the top of the box to give them something other than box lid to build on ... if you are anything of a DIY'er screw a couple of 2 x 1 to the inside of the sides of the box to provide a couple of ledges for the bars to sit on. Sort of a temporary mini, instant, Top bar hive.

Buys you a bit of time to get a second hive of some sort bought, begged or bodged up.

Needs must when the devil drives ....

It's an easy swarm to collect and a second colony is such a useful aseet.

107th Myth of beekeeping - bees don't swarm in their first year .... tell that to all those first year beekeepers who have lost swarms ..

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately I had work commitments last night and today and was unable to do anything! I just wanted to make sure the bees were OK. Fortunately my wife has found someone on a local forum who is collecting the swarm this morning.
I am now going to order a second hive etc as a spare and inspect the existing hive today and follow the advice on here.

 

[OhBeehave]

IE: Has the hive got a queen excluder above the brood box ? And are the brood frames full of brood and honey stores ?

Thanks for your reply, there is a queen excluder above the brood box and I will report back later what it looks like.

 

[OhBeehave]

OMG ... 3 weeks at this time of the year ? Rather chancing his arm I fear ...

I definitely went into this without fully researching, big mistake! We spent more time turning a paddock into a meadow for them and I should have just read a good book on the subject! So just ordered bees and honey by Ted Cooper.....5 weeks late! But already we do love having the bees and spend hours watching them around the hive.