Should I take the swarm?

[BernardBlack]

Ok, hears the story...

Have a nuc promised to me in the next week or ten days. A swarm has come up, someone going to grab them this evening. Should I take the swarm, or wait and get the promised nuc from the reputable supplier?

(I've not had a hive of bees before)

 

[Robbo8916]

If you have enough equipment and space to keep the swarm away from your new nuc then go get the swarm. If not then I would personally leave it and go for bees you know will be healthy and disease free.

 

[MartinL]

As long as you have the equipment and ability/area to quarantine, why not take both?

Never look a gift horse in the mouth!

And remember, the nuc you've been promised could turn out to be the swarm you refused!

 

[Quis Custodiet]

......................................

And remember, the nuc you've been promised could turn out to be the swarm you refused!

Very possible! Many, if not most of the nucs. sold at this time of year are swarms. A dash of white on the queen and away you go.

 

[BernardBlack]

Hmm, interesting.

If I took both, what do you advise re: distance and quarantine?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Ok, hears the story...

Have a nuc promised to me in the next week or ten days. A swarm has come up, someone going to grab them this evening. Should I take the swarm, or wait and get the promised nuc from the reputable supplier?

(I've not had a hive of bees before)

Are there any disease pockets in your locality? Personally I would take the swarm in a "clean" area but don't feed for 3days so any honey they brought in their stomach will be used in comb building and any pathogens locked into the wax. After 3 days you can give a little thin syrup to boost the construction process but don't overdo it. Once hived you must resist the temptation to keep looking inside as they need peace to develop the colony.
Do you have a mentor or bee buddy?

 

[Quis Custodiet]

Hmm, interesting.

If I took both, what do you advise re: distance and quarantine?

Swarms are usually healthy. As has been advised,do not feed them for three days. but do give them plenty of ventilation and spray them with water or if you have a mesh top over them put a wet cloth folded several times into a small rectangle on top of it and saturate it at least daily. Until you release them they can be kept anywhere, find somewhere cool and sheltered.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

I took the swarms instead of buying nucs last year and they turned out to be poorly mated and didnt make it through spring

 

[BernardBlack]

Are there any disease pockets in your locality? Personally I would take the swarm in a "clean" area but don't feed for 3days so any honey they brought in their stomach will be used in comb building and any pathogens locked into the wax. After 3 days you can give a little thin syrup to boost the construction process but don't overdo it. Once hived you must resist the temptation to keep looking inside as they need peace to develop the colony.
Do you have a mentor or bee buddy?

Not as such. But I have a couple of experienced Beekeepers I can contact/visit my site if needed.

 

[BernardBlack]

Swarms are usually healthy. As has been advised,do not feed them for three days. but do give them plenty of ventilation and spray them with water or if you have a mesh top over them put a wet cloth folded several times into a small rectangle on top of it and saturate it at least daily. Until you release them they can be kept anywhere, find somewhere cool and sheltered.

So three days before hiving them should suffice?

 

[drex]

No. As soon as they are confined they will start to make comb. You want this in your frames in your hives, not all over the place in the box they came in. So get them hived as soon as you can. What QC is saying is, if confIned ensure plenty of ventilation and water for cooling.
Personally I never bother to confine. If inspecting I make sure I look in them the last hive in the apiary, having done all my own hives first. Not had a diseased swarm yet. I do not feed at all as there is usually plenty of forage at swarming time, but if not only feed after 3 days. Also treat for varroa (I sublimate oxalic) while broodless

 

[bpmurray]

If you're in the Laois area, don't touch the swarm - an apiary there has confirmed AFB.

 

[MartinL]

So three days before hiving them should suffice?

Er, no.

You want to get them on frames, soon as poss and to get the building process underway!

 

[Teemore]

There is AFB all over our part of the world (North and South). The instances of AFB in Northern Ireland in 2015 were reported as being over 25 times higher than in the rest of the UK.
I took my name off the swarm collectors list for two reasons. 1. A lack of time as I have a full time job with a 1hr 20 minute commute (one way) and 2. AFB.
Disease levels and the inability of some beekeepers to recognise problems in their colonies or to manage swarming in any way other than to gather up swarms means that swarms must always be considered an unknown quantity and treated with great caution.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

So three days before hiving them should suffice?

No, hive immediately but feed after three days

 

[Cussword]

No, hive immediately but feed after three days

That's what I was taught.

.

 

[alldigging]

There is AFB all over our part of the world (North and South). The instances of AFB in Northern Ireland in 2015 were reported as being over 25 times higher than in the rest of the UK.

So what's different there?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

So what's different there?

Head in the sand syndrome - or just ignorance?

 

[Quis Custodiet]

Head in the sand syndrome - or just ignorance?

Both and with the recent increase in the number of individuals who wish to start beekeeping there has been a corresponding increase in suppliers of nucs..
These suppliers are from both sides of the border and some are literally prepared to sell anything that might be mistaken for a honeybee. These unscrupulous individuals are one of the main reasons for the AFB increase here.

 

[bpmurray]

The outbreak in Laois is in the same area as last year so the fear is that there are wild hives contaminating the apiaries.