Swarm attracted to Bait Box

[Tony19]

Hi all a quick question, i used a poly nuc to capture a small swarm yesterday and hived it on my allotment. I then set up the same nuc as a bait box approx 100yards away on a friends allotment, would the swarm bees be attracted to the poly nuc or should they stay in the actual hive. Hope this make sense. Thanks Tony

 

[Millet]

Hi all a quick question, i used a poly nuc to capture a small swarm yesterday and hived it on my allotment. I then set up the same nuc as a bait box approx 100yards away on a friends allotment, would the swarm bees be attracted to the poly nuc or should they stay in the actual hive. Hope this make sense. Thanks Tony

This Question can not be answered accurately unless the Queen is happy where she is and started laying which is a bit early for that yet.

 

[Amari]

Hopefully it will be OK
When hiving a swarm some folk put a QEx under the Bbox for a few days to prevent the Q absconding. Also a good time to treat for varroa before the brood is sealed.

 

[MartinL]

, would the swarm bees be attracted to the poly nuc or should they stay in the actual hive.

Maybe,

Maybe not

Maybe something completely different?

Only time will tell

How long were they in the nuc?
You don't say where they were before you put them into the nuc, a better attractant might have been the branch they settled on?

 

[Barbarian]

A swarm going into a bait hive is a plus.
It saves them going into a wall cavity or eaves.

 

[Tony19]

Thanks

Quick thank you to all who replied, thanks for the help. I put a QEx under the brood box for 24 hours but then had a thought that maybe the queen hadn't had her maiden mating flight so removed it. Bees seem ok in main hive after a couple of days. I think I was getting confused with the "move hive 3 feet or 3 miles" scenario, obviously at the stage I hived them and then set up the nuc as a bait hive no flight lines had been established. You could end up reading about bees forever and then never get anything else done!!

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

For the past three days I've had scouts checking out my poly nuc bait hives and I got all excited. On Thusday evening there was a couple of dozen going in and out of one and thoroughly checking the entrance. I thought today the swarm will arrive - but not even a single scout appeared! I assume the beekeeper intervened just in time or they found somewhere more to their taste. Shame.