Swarm Panic

[Darryl]

This is sod's law..... A swarm has just landed in a tree in my garden (hopefully not one of mine). It's high in a pine tree; too high for a ladder and I have no cherry picker so I'm left with trying to coax them down. Of course, I have no spare hive (still a newbie) so I've set a Correx nuc as high in the tree as possible. I have no drawn frames so a couple of foundations will have to do. I've added a few drops of lemongrass oil to help. Is there anything else I can do to persuade the swarm to choose the nuc?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Pillowcase on a long pole. That’s how we got two down. I say we. I mean Stan. I supervised

 

[Darryl]

I'll give it a go tomorrow if they are still there.

 

[steve1958]

Sadly if it's too high you might just have to watch them fly away.

However at the moment the swarm will be scouting for a new home, so a cosy correx nuc may tempt them.

I would be more concerned about where they came from.
Inspect your hives in case one has swarmed.
You may need to then reduce the number of Queen cells to prevent additional caste swarms.

 

[Darryl]

Sadly if it's too high you might just have to watch them fly away.

However at the moment the swarm will be scouting for a new home, so a cosy correx nuc may tempt them.

I would be more concerned about where they came from.
Inspect your hives in case one has swarmed.
You may need to then reduce the number of Queen cells to prevent additional caste swarms.

Just checked my hives. Both look to have as many bees as the last inspection. Didn't see any queen cells just a row of drone cells along the top bar of one of the frames. I recently put a super on and they've just started to draw. The other hive still has 4 untouched frames so plenty of room. Hopefully the swarm is from elsewhere and a couple of scouts were checking out the Correx. Seems a shame if they cleared off but that's life.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just checked my hives. Both look to have as many bees as the last inspection. Didn't see any queen cells just a row of drone cells along the top bar of one of the frames. I recently put a super on and they've just started to draw. The other hive still has 4 untouched frames so plenty of room. Hopefully the swarm is from elsewhere and a couple of scouts were checking out the Correx. Seems a shame if they cleared off but that's life.

Swarmed colonies usually appear just as busy
Did you brush the bees off the frames to check for queen cells? Did you spot eggs and a queen?

 

[BugsInABox]

Sadly if it's too high you might just have to watch them fly away.

However at the moment the swarm will be scouting for a new home, so a cosy correx nuc may tempt them.

I would be more concerned about where they came from.
Inspect your hives in case one has swarmed.
You may need to then reduce the number of Queen cells to prevent additional caste swarms.

Ok I'm in this position having just caught a swarm in a bait hive - whist I'm away. But when I insoect next week how would I tell if it's fine from me - assuming the Q is unmarked?

 

[Darryl]

Swarmed colonies usually appear just as busy
Did you brush the bees off the frames to check for queen cells? Did you spot eggs and a queen?

Didn't look to closely thought it best to leave until tomorrow as the wind is getting up. I'm planning to bring forward the planned weekend full inspection to tomorrow. I can then make a better assessment.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ok I'm in this position having just caught a swarm in a bait hive - whist I'm away. But when I insoect next week how would I tell if it's fine from me - assuming the Q is unmarked?

You can only make an informed guess looking at what is in your boxes

 

[Darryl]

Swarmed colonies usually appear just as busy
Did you brush the bees off the frames to check for queen cells? Did you spot eggs and a queen?

Panic over - almost. The swarm are not mine. Pole and pillowcase method didn't work as they were 8m up the tree and too far from the ground. They later let the tree and settled on long grass nearby. I left a Correx with a couple of frames and lemongrass and they piled in. As the hive-to-be is only about 200m from where they were caught, I should keep them locked in so that they can reorientate to the new site. How long should I keep them locked before letting them fly?

 

[Erichalfbee]

What I do is box them and wait till the evening when they have stopped flying. Move in the evening. No need to keep shut in. Yes you will lose the early foragers and they will hang around for a few days but they eventually disperse.

 

[Sutty]

They are a swarm so expecting to reorientate.
I hived a swarm I saw issue from one of my hives last Saturday about 4 feet away from their original hive, they re-orientated just fine. I left the nuc box I used under the tree they swarmed to until evening and just moved them to final location.

 

[Darryl]

What I do is box them and wait till the evening when they have stopped flying. Move in the evening. No need to keep shut in. Yes you will lose the early foragers and they will hang around for a few days but they eventually disperse.

Thanks for the help. I was concerned that if I let them fly too son, they would return to the place where I got them from when I got them from given the short distance between there and their new home. I'll borrow a hive and move them into it tomorrow evening.

 

[Sutty]

When you think a swarm is from one of your own hives I've heard of putting a few bees from the swarm into a jar with some flour, shaking gently to coat them, and opening in front of your hives. If you see flour-coated bees going into one of them that's where the swarm came from.
I've never tried this - anyone else know if it works?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks for the help. I was concerned that if I let them fly too son, they would return to the place where I got them from when I got them from given the short distance between there and their new home. I'll borrow a hive and move them into it tomorrow evening.

Where are they now?
Wherever they are living move that tonight then you can put them in their new hive at your leisure.
If you leave them where they are for another day you will lose even more bees

 

[Sutty]

Ie put them on their permanent location

 

[Darryl]

Where are they now?
Wherever they are living move that tonight then you can put them in their new hive at your leisure.
If you leave them where they are for another day you will lose even more bees

They are on my back garden in a Correx nuc with entrance closed. I plan to put them in a hive tomorrow at their new location with syrup to start them off. I plan to let the fly at the same time. Does this sound good?

Ie put them on their permanent location

I put them in their permanent location this morning. By this evening, most of them had returned to the original location around half a mile away. Should I gather them again and take them to the new location again but this time seal them in?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

They'll quickly cook in this weather if you're not careful.

 

[Darryl]

They'll quickly cook in this weather if you're not careful.

I'm not sure how to prevent them from repeatedly absconding back to their original swarm location.

 

[Sutty]

I've not had that problem but have always moved them to final position within a few hrs (max) of collecting the swarm.
Do you have anywhere available a few miles away you could move them to for a week or two before moving back?
Are you fairly sure the queen isn't still in the original swarm location?