Too early for swarm traps?

[Swarm]

No, it's a nice, fat drone
Congratulations, you now have bees.

 

[gwt_uk]

Bit concerned they’re not heading into the box....any advice? It’s been absolutely fantastic to watch.
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Well done!

 

[Do224]

Well done!

Cheers, I bet yours will be along any day too

 

[Dorchop]

congratulations How exciting!

 

[Do224]

I’ll be bringing the full swarm trap down from the tree tonight and moving it about 2 miles to the farm where they’ll be living. I’m a little concerned that it’s only 2 miles rather than the recommended 3. A guy at my local association says it will be fine though. Am I right to worry or will it be ok? The swarm arrived on Monday lunch time so perhaps easier to move if still in ‘swarm mode’?

 

[Murox]

I’ll be bringing the full swarm trap down from the tree tonight and moving it about 2 miles to the farm where they’ll be living. I’m a little concerned that it’s only 2 miles rather than the recommended 3. A guy at my local association says it will be fine though. Am I right to worry or will it be ok? The swarm arrived on Monday lunch time so perhaps easier to move if still in ‘swarm mode’?

With such a 'new ' swarm you would be very unlucky if it wasn't OK. Reorientation is key - but there is always the BEE factor to change your plan. - take it the Queen is on board ?

 

[Do224]

With such a 'new ' swarm you would be very unlucky if it wasn't OK. Reorientation is key - but there is always the BEE factor to change your plan. - take it the Queen is on board ?

Thanks for the reassurance. I’m assuming the queen (and swarm) are in there but don’t know for sure as I’ve just left them alone in their tree so far....I never actually saw the swarm go in (last I saw they were clustered on the box) but the activity yesterday looked different to when they were scouting so I’m hopeful!

 

[Do224]

Just opened the bait hive up and no swarm....guess I should have collected them straight away as they didn’t go in after all...

I’ll just put it down to experience and learn from it...

 

[Katherine]

What do you do about the bees that go back to the bait box site?

 

[RichardK]

Just opened the bait hive up and no swarm....guess I should have collected them straight away as they didn’t go in after all...

I’ll just put it down to experience and learn from it...

That's a bummer. So close. I think it's safe to say everyone is keeping their fingers crossed for you.

 

[Erichalfbee]

What do you do about the bees that go back to the bait box site?

I usually get a few returnees and up till this year did n nothing and eventually they disappeared. This year, having moved the bait hive in the evening there were a few at the site the next morning and I had put a super with a couple of frames in its place. They were settled in the evening so I put the super on top of the nuc. The next day there were fewer bees and I left those to it. They disappeared in three days

 

[Katherine]

It appears that my stragglers are slowly disappearing too. Both the hive and the bait box appear to be settled. I shall be looking for pollen coming in, in the next few days, otherwise plans to leave alone. So far, fingers crossed, it looks like a good result.

 

[Do224]

Pretty exciting day...they arrived about 12pm and went straight in to the trap....planning to move them to the apiary once they stop flying, looks like I’ll have to wait until it’s dark

View attachment 3291F5B5-8C22-439B-9DC9-4B689352400E.MOV

 

[drdrday]

Pretty exciting day...they arrived about 12pm and went straight in to the trap....

So glad to hear you've finally got a swarm. Congratulations!!!!

 

[RichardK]

Pretty exciting day...they arrived about 12pm and went straight in to the trap....planning to move them to the apiary once they stop flying, looks like I’ll have to wait until it’s dark

View attachment 26708

Fantastic news!

 

[Do224]

So glad to hear you've finally got a swarm. Congratulations!!!!

Thanks, I’m not counting my chickens just yet (after last time!) but looking promising!

I’ve just taken them to the farm where my apiary will be and put the swarm trap on top of the empty hive. I’ve no way of feeding syrup into the swarm trap and nine of the ten frames in there only have starter strips, so I guess I need to get them transferred into the hive and give them full frames of new foundation at some point soon so I can start feeding them. I’m still not totally sure of the best time to do this.....at the moment I’m thinking Wednesday (three days after capture) but I’m open to suggestion if there’s a better option!? I’d really like to hang on to these ones if I can.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks, I’m not counting my chickens just yet (after last time!) but looking promising!

I’ve just taken them to the farm where my apiary will be and put the swarm trap on top of the empty hive. I’ve no way of feeding syrup into the swarm trap and nine of the ten frames in there only have starter strips, so I guess I need to get them transferred into the hive and give them full frames of new foundation at some point soon so I can start feeding them. I’m still not totally sure of the best time to do this.....at the moment I’m thinking Wednesday (three days after capture) but I’m open to suggestion if there’s a better option!? I’d really like to hang on to these ones if I can.

Get in there and alternate every strip with foundation or you might find yourself in bother. Move them this morning. Pop a feeder on but don’t put anything into it until Wednesday. Don’t bother about excluders. They will stay or they won’t. If you like you can vape them next Sunday

 

[Do224]

Get in there and alternate every strip with foundation or you might find yourself in bother. Move them this morning. Pop a feeder on but don’t put anything into it until Wednesday. Don’t bother about excluders. They will stay or they won’t. If you like you can vape them next Sunday

Thanks. Why alternate every strip with foundation....why not replace every strip with foundation?

So I’m ok transferring them into the hive this morning despite having only caught them yesterday and moved them to the apiary last night?

Also...what kind of ‘in bother’?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Of course you can use all foundation. Just with you putting in all starter strips I thought you might be keen to try some foundation free frames. The bees certainly like them though you might be alarmed at the amount of drone they produce at the right time of year. In my bait hives the bees always draw the FF frame first.
If you left the box "empty" you might get comb drawn all over the place. A frame of foundation between strips gives the bees a guide. I have a couple of colonies on FF and they seem to have less varroa (tin hat) than the others

 

[Katherine]

Would it be a pipe dream to think you can get away without feeding syrup? Its something I'd like to avoid if possible.