swarm question?

[meetballuk]

picked up swarm yesterday from top of tree like 10 ft from some hives. got som gr8 stings arm puffing up nicly.

my question is that the lady who owns the tree say there is a small cluster on the tree. should i go an collect or is it highly unlikly the queen is in there?
i collected last night and the all had there bums in the air fanning which is usaully a good sign

shouldnt those bees piss off bk to the other hives soon?

 

[sherwood]

these will be the scout and other flying bees that were out reccying the area when you collected the swarm

 

[Pete D]

They may hang about for a couple of days but will disperse.
In my limited experience everytime I have collected a swarm and the bees have fanned at the entrance I have got the queen inside and the rest eventually follow. Weather and time of day may have an influence on this and as Sherwood said the scout bees along with a few others drawn to the smell of where the queen has been will congregate back at the original position.
I have found not picking them up till very late eve / early morning lessens the amount of stragglers as does smoking the area where the swarm was found.
In a numbers game its a 100 bees 'v' maybe 8000.
Treat them well and feed them up, good luck

Pete D

 

[meetballuk]

thought id got the majoraty but shook a load over me and the tree got like 2 boxes full and smoked and cut top of tree.
gonna leave it i think and not realy got time

many thanks guys

 

[Outlander]

Dose not matter whether the queen is there or not, you choose to collect them so you should go back and finish the job or there be angry bees flying about for days.

If you decide not to collect the cluster then you have no right collecting swarms and should reframe from doing so in future.

 

[village girl]

thought id got the majoraty but shook a load over me and the tree got like 2 boxes full and smoked and cut top of tree.
gonna leave it i think and not realy got time

many thanks guys

you chose to colect the swarm , now go back and finish the job properly, the bees left behind by you are more likely to become a problem to people as they get more distressd at being queenless, they will cluster were the scent of the queen is left on tree or branch so shouldent be dificult to collect after dusk when flying bees will return. With beekeeping and swarm collecting comes a responsability

 

[sherwood]

you chose to colect the swarm , now go back and finish the job properly, the bees left behind by you are more likely to become a problem to people as they get more distressd at being queenless, they will cluster were the scent of the queen is left on tree or branch so shouldent be dificult to collect after dusk when flying bees will return. With beekeeping and swarm collecting comes a responsability

I am afraid I agree here. I have on occasion had to go back 3 times. You must in good faith finish the job if you were willing to collect the bees for nothing( I charge for my fuel ) you MUST finish the job it not only effects peoples opinion of you but their opinions on beekeepers as a whole.

 

[meetballuk]

will they not just give up and go back to the hive? speacly if the weather turns?

 

[village girl]

will they not just give up and go back to the hive? speacly if the weather turns?

probably NOT is what i was told by beeks with alot more experiance than me

 

[george]

They might but thats missing the point . When you agree to collect a swarm , collect all of it , not just the bit you want .
Once you have attended I believe you are responsible . If someone gets stung by ar*ey bees its down to you .
G

 

[Outlander]

I was called out to a swarm early last month. When I got there it was then I found out that some one had been earlier that day and removed the main swarm. I told the locals that they would have to get the guy back to finish the job but he refused to come back. I removed the cluster only because a 13 month baby had been stung. If left they will get very bad tempered and chances are will sting.

I have only been keeping a short while but have collected a few swarms. I leave box and collect end of day as getting dark and I always check back with locals the next day. My last swarm was last Saturday and on Sunday only one bee hanging about.

May be because I’m relatively new to collecting but finishing the job properly I feel quite strongly about

 

[village girl]

They might but thats missing the point . When you agree to collect a swarm , collect all of it , not just the bit you want .
Once you have attended I believe you are responsible . If someone gets stung by ar*ey bees its down to you .
G

 

[Outlander]

They might but thats missing the point . When you agree to collect a swarm , collect all of it , not just the bit you want .
Once you have attended I believe you are responsible . If someone gets stung by ar*ey bees its down to you .
G

 

[meetballuk]

this is the way i feel usuall a go round 5 ish but in box go back at 10 and colect hive.

this time i colected lump but in box agot serval more hand fulls from top of tree. by time id finished it was 9 could only see 10 or 20 flying round and on the tree so throught those few will piss of back too the hive they swarmed from.

got a call from lady 2day says theres like a small foot ball sized lump thats very active there now.
gonna have too go back can i just dump them in last nights hive>?

 

[Outlander]

this is the way i feel usuall a go round 5 ish but in box go back at 10 and colect hive.

this time i colected lump but in box agot serval more hand fulls from top of tree. by time id finished it was 9 could only see 10 or 20 flying round and on the tree so throught those few will piss of back too the hive they swarmed from.

got a call from lady 2day says theres like a small foot ball sized lump thats very active there now.
gonna have too go back can i just dump them in last nights hive>?

Football sized, could be another swarm so would be very careful about hiving them with last nights until taking advice from someone more experienced.

More I think about that the more I feel it's another swarm.

 

[meetballuk]

think gonna leave a nueaclas 2nite then over 2day the straglers should go in, then fri nite get them

 

[meetballuk]

was a second swarm football size not my leftovers from another hive sadly missed it as left this morning.

thanks for your help guys

 

[psafloyd]

Football sized, could be another swarm so would be very careful about hiving them with last nights until taking advice from someone more experienced.

More I think about that the more I feel it's another swarm.

Ted Hooper says if you have a couple of swarms, you can throw them together and they'll tend to get over the confusion and sort themselves out. A bit of icing sugar may help the job.