Sometimes, they just want the real thing
Jc
Never has a truer word been spoken - for 'something' with profound behavoural consequences occurs during a natural swarm which does not occur during any (afaik) artificial swarm.
Tyro beeks have been cautioned several times on here recently to take precautions when conducting an artificial swarm technique, as immediately subsequent to this, should they have the opportunity to do so, bees will attempt to return to their original hive - i.e. 'they will return from whence they came' ...
In contrast, following a natural swarm, the exact opposite occurs - whatever this 'thing' is that happens during a natural swarm, it somehow has the ability to
'press the reset button on the bees' automatic homing device' - and, afaik, there is no way to replicate this artificially. (well - short of sealing-up the hive for a week ...)
The nearest (perhaps) one can come to achieving this is to "confuse the hell outa the bees" (as I heard one American put it): open the brood box; take all the frames out and expose them to daylight; replace the box with another; replace the frames in the new box in a different order, or even spread them around between different boxes; relocate the hive a foot or two to one side, and perhaps elevate by the same amount; rotate the hive so that the entrance points in a different direction; place a bushy branch in front of the entrance, and so on. In short, turn their otherwise familiar surroundings completely upside-down - as indeed would happen post-swarm.
I've never done this myself, but that advice comes from those who have - and it certainly sounds plausible to me.
LJ
