swarm help what now

[matty]

Hi
After a bit of help 3rd year bee keeping and in a bit of a mess

Due to the weather i have not carried out a inspection for a few weeks and one of the hives have swarmed twice in the last few days.

I have collected the 2 swarms one from next doors tree and one from the garden but i only have one spare nuc box so one i put in this and the other in a box.

Now my bee mentor said just bung them both in the nuc box and let them fight it out then look to reunite it back with the hive later in the year.

I have done this but one of the swarms re swarmed to the back of the nuc box so i tried again same thing.

So what do i do, i don't have another nuc box or much space for one

Thanks

 

[REDWOOD]

You need to home the one outside see if you have 2 supers as a temp home, place a floor or board and put the 2 supers on top,wedge the supers so there is a gap between the supers and floor and place a board on top, this will be ok until the unnecessary equipment can be obtained, you can unite collony once you know the best colony

 

[user 6228]

improvise - use a cardboard box about 40L capacity ... weather proof the outside with some PVA or plastic bags and gaffer tape. cut a 20 sq cm hole for entrance.
hang the frames off bits of wood glued in or shoved thru the walls.
The box flaps are the roof. Either tape down or press down with a bit of kingspan and a brick
Bees think nest size 30 ~40L regardless of swarm or colony size.

 

[astabada]

That is becoming my "emergency hive". I once kept a nuc in there for 7 weeks!

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I might well have suggested what your mentor suggested expecting one queen to survive.
Does your mentor have a spare hive? You could use a super for a few days. With a virgin queen she won't be laying eggs just yet.

You will also need to check the remaining colony as you may get further swarms. Another option is to dump a swarm back into the original hive or run them up a board into the entrance ensuring there are no queencells in the hive at all. Put the colony over a queen excluder for 2 - 3 days once the bees are in, to keep them there (assuming the queen can't get through).

 

[madasafish]

Hive them in a dustbin with a hole near the top. They'll grow comb from the lid..

 

[matty]

Thanks for the reply's
I have been through the hive they came from and cleared any queen cells and play cups, they have plenty of room infect it was the weaker of my hives that i was feeding as well.

i have a spare super so will make a temp nuc out of it and see if the queens has mated before deciding what to do.

When would be the best time to reunite with the hive ?