Nuc creating interest

[rockdoc]

I've stuck a nuc on my shed roof with two brood frames plus a little lemon grass oil as a bait hive. Today an ever increasing number of very black bees are crowding around the entrance. What started as a few now number 80+ (7pm). They are crowding around the hole and in lines up the front. Is this a precursor to a swarm? I've seen swarms arrive before but never witnessed this form of behavior. I had a quick look inside a few minutes ago and although some came up to test me there are not enough for a cast inside. Any ideas?
Cheers

 

[Poly Hive]

Sounds good.

If the activity stops tomorrow completely then take a deep breath and get your camera ready as they are on the way. Or changed their minds...lol

PH

 

[oliver90owner]

You might be lucky but if you are talking here of a 5 frame National nuke, that is a joke for attracting a decent prime swarm - it would already be only just big enough, and probably not even that.

There are a lot of slips 'twixt cup and lip' where swarming is concerned - there may be bees getting the swarming instinct - but there may also be a beekeeper awaiting to A/S them, per eg.

RAB

 

[Poly Hive]

I hear you Rab but I have never seen a prime swarm bigger than covering 5 or 6 frames, National at that. I would love to catch a bigger one but I carry loving in hope. Smallest one is covering a third of a side of a Langstroth frame....lol

PH

 

[darren64]

when you attract a swarm to a hive that is high up,can you just move them to a more convenient place straight away,or do you have to stick to the 3 foot or 3 mile rule?

 

[rockdoc]

Oh yes, I was going to ask the self same question, especially if I get lucky as the neighbours will not want a repeat of last year!. Just to add to the first post, the only hive near me is my own a few houses away and recently AS'ed and going very well. I am assuming these bees might be living 'rough' in a nearby park. There is also a national brood box ready a few feet away. They are showing a little interest in this but nothing like the nuc. If they appear again tomorrow I'll try and get some pics. By the way there about 20 or so still inside at the moment (9.20pm).
Cheers

 

[sputnam]

Move them that evening, then they will be fine.
I've seen prime swarms move into a nuc box. Only just fitted, very crowded, but they did it.

 

[rockdoc]

Thanks, I'll let you know what happens next.

 

[m100]

I collected a huge swarm a few years back. The line from Jaws came to mind as I turned up with a five frame nuc box. "I'm gonna need a bigger box"

On a brick wall in a back alley, it was over 4 feet top to bottom, at least three inches thick and over a foot wide. I was initially convinced it was on a support pillar that was jutting out giving the impression of more bees than at first appeared, but no, the wall was flat.

I really wish I had my camera with me as it truly was a sight to see. Really docile bees but very reluctant to move in the light drizzle. So I just scooped them up by hand and with a cardboard box. At some point the queen ended up in the hive and they all followed - eventually filling an entire national brood box with a frame or so of spare bees placed in the nuc. I hived it five mile away on a brood and a half...and it absconded a day or so later never to be heard of again.

A week or so later I had another report of a swarm within a few yards of the previous one. It had gone by the time I got there. There are plenty of derelict buildings nearby, but no beekeepers that anyone in our association were aware of, so a possible feral.

There are reports in years gone by (pre-varroa) of swarms so big they wouldn't fit in a 14x12.

 

[RoseCottage]

If you have placed a box with a couple of frames of brood in it then the other more likely reason for their interest is in stripping the frames of anything valuable. At this time of year girls are like Cornish villagers discovering a fresh wreck...everyone for themselves. Nothing wrong with that but their interest may have nothing to do with swarming.

Cross your fingers though just in case,

All the best,
Sam

 

[Midland Beek]

Black devils .......

 

[drstitson]

the reason why nuc boxes are not optimal bait hives is nothing to do with the size of the swarm but that the scout bees actually assess the volume of the internal cavity (as well as other factors such as dampness, draughtiness etc) on their many visits into the hive.

so they are looking for a new home suitable for a full colony not a temporary one suitable for the swarm itself.

 

[oliver90owner]

I've put just a reasonable sized colony (not LARGE, by any means) into a 5 (may have had 6) frame 14 x 12 nuc and they have been well on the way to drawing the first 3 frames by the next day. The full 12 frame box was completely full in 3 weeks. Completely full.

A British Standard Deep National nuc should be full of wax in short time, full of brood and stores inside a week in good foraging conditions. What self-respecting bee scout be is going to have any kudos from her compatriots if that is the best she can find?

RAB