What on earth do I do now?

[beenovice]

Found this by my hive. I can reach it off a chair.

 

[YorkshireBees]

Found this by my hive. I can reach it off a chair.

It's a swarm, collect it if you have the kit and know how otherwise call someone who does.

 

[beenovice]

It's a swarm, collect it if you have the kit and know how otherwise call someone who does.

We'll I gathered it was a swarm! It was more a procedure I was after!

 

[Rich0909]

Ok basic procedure - lay out an old sheet very near to the swarm, preferably white. Get a good size cardboard box and secateurs, manoeuvre the box under the swarm and up around most of them, snip the branch so they fall in the box.
Invert the box on the sheet, prop one edge up to give them access. leave alone until dusk when all flying bees should have returned.
Take your spare hive (??), remove a few frames, invert the box and give it a sharp rap to drop the bees in. Gently replace the frames, they will sit on top of the bees for a moment but they will move out of the way and the frames will drop in to place.
Move hive to where you want it. If you don't have spare kit ready they will be ok in the box for a day or so if protected from rain but some swarms will chew through the cardboard pretty swiftly.....
If you want to do it the traditional way place a board up to the entrance of the spare hive, cover it in the white sheet and shake the bees out on to it - they should all march up the ramp into the hive, good to watch but takes longer.

Rich

 

[Coldwater]

If you feel up to it, get a cardboard box, a bee brush (if you have one) a bed sheet and the aforementioned chair.

Put your bee suit on, lay the sheet on the ground beneath, climb onto the chair holding the carboard box under the swarm. Shake the swarm off the branch into the box with one quick motion (or as close to as you can come). Assuming you get most of the bees in the box, if you still have your balance and brush to hand, brush any remaining bees into the box and then close the box up. Decend onto the sheet. Gently turn the box over and open at least one of the flaps. Put the box with open side downwards onto the middle of the sheet. Prop one corner of the box up a couple of inches with a handy stone or your brush. Retreat and admire your handiwork. Leave for an hour or two and hopefully the fanning of the bees will encounrage any stragglers into your box.

In the mean time, have a look at the original spot where the bees were clustered. Are all the bees returning to it? Is there a cluster till there? See if you can take them down and put them on the sheet next to the open end of the box. If the spot is mostly clear, light up your smoker / get an air fresherner, and give the spot where they were clustered a good smoke / quick spritz to cover up any remaining queen pheromone.

Once the bees are in your box, fold the sheet up around the box and tie it well so no bees can escape.

Set up a new hive (floor, brood box, frames of foundation, crown board and roof with a queen excluder UNDER the borood box to reduce likelihood of absconding) somewhere you want them to be and before evening falls, take out the central 4 - 5 frames of the broox bod, and upend your carboard box of bees into it with a sharp tap. gently replace the frames you removed, and close up the hive. Check the queen is not still in the cardboard box.

Leave them for a few days to get established and then check things are oging well. A swarm is one of the most powerful forces of comb drawing that you will see. No need to feed them unless it looks like a few days of bad weather. Certainly dont feed them for the first 2 days so that they can empty out their stomachs.

Some would treat with oxalic for varroa after a couple of days due to the nice absence of brood.

 

[beenovice]

Ok so thi is what I have done. I noticed the one swarm pictured, from a very quiet AS hive that I left 2 queen cells in(Probably the reason they swarmed). But also there was a second swarm occurring nearby from a nuc I made at the same time.
For the one pictured I placed a box underneath and cut the branch. All bees entered the box. I then tipped the bees into a brood box of foundation.
I closed the entrance with grass and put the lid on! Should I have closed the entrance? I haven't fed them
By this time the second swarm had more or less settled. It was not as easy as first one but I managed to collect about 75% of the bees. I hadn't got another brood box with me but I had got two supers and a supers worth of foundation. The supers had got castellations for 10 frames.
I cobbled together an entrance, put the supers on top, and the frames of foundation in the top super. Topped off with a crown board. I blocked off the holes and put a plastic board on top for waterproofing.
I tipped the bees in as before. I noticed after about 10 minutes that bees were fanning on the entrance. I did not seal this entrance.
My plan was to try and switch to a brood box tomorrow. To do this should I leave the one super of foundation, and place a brood of foundation on top and run with a brood and a half?
Anything I shouldn't have done, or need to do this evening or in the morning?

 

[dn170221]

Also some videos on youtube if that helps demonstrate visually!
Good luck

 

[ellypatt]

Well done. Are the ones with a closed entrance on an open mesh floor?

 

[beenovice]

Well done. Are the ones with a closed entrance on an open mesh floor?

Yes - the closed entrance ones are on open mesh.
The others are on closed floor as it was a makeshift floor. This entrance is open hon.

 

[Arfermo]

Ok so thi is what I have done. I noticed the one swarm pictured, from a very quiet AS hive that I left 2 queen cells in(Probably the reason they swarmed). But also there was a second swarm occurring nearby from a nuc I made at the same time.
For the one pictured I placed a box underneath and cut the branch. All bees entered the box. I then tipped the bees into a brood box of foundation.
I closed the entrance with grass and put the lid on! Should I have closed the entrance? I haven't fed them
By this time the second swarm had more or less settled. It was not as easy as first one but I managed to collect about 75% of the bees. I hadn't got another brood box with me but I had got two supers and a supers worth of foundation. The supers had got castellations for 10 frames.
I cobbled together an entrance, put the supers on top, and the frames of foundation in the top super. Topped off with a crown board. I blocked off the holes and put a plastic board on top for waterproofing.
I tipped the bees in as before. I noticed after about 10 minutes that bees were fanning on the entrance. I did not seal this entrance.
My plan was to try and switch to a brood box tomorrow. To do this should I leave the one super of foundation, and place a brood of foundation on top and run with a brood and a half?
Anything I shouldn't have done, or need to do this evening or in the morning?

You will need to feed them light syrup as they only have the nutriment that they swarmed with and it won't last very long. If you can also give them a frame or two of stores and BIAS from elsewhere that will make them happy too. I think the question of 10 slot castellation has also been raised (by you?) on another thread. Quite a number of beekeeepers, me and also Hivemaker included, use castellations in brood boxes but, assuming you are on Nationals or compatibles, you MUST only use 11 slot castellations in BBs. Best to do the same in your supers too until you understand the comnsequences of doing otherwise. The same basic advice applies to the nuc or whatever you hive the second lot in. Both should have queens but they may not necessarily be mated. Stuff the entrances with grass or whatever of both new colonies, place them in their new location (unless it ismore than 3 miles away from where they were caught when that will not be necessary) and leave for 24 hours. You can then let them out to reorientate themselves and do what they do naturally.
I think that is what I would do but inevitably others will be along to advise otherwise. You will find contrary views abound on this forum - too many self appointed experts (including me probably)!!

 

[Davelin]

The ones in the super should transfer to a brood box OK tomorrow without the need to keep the super if you shake/brush them into the box.
It might be a good idea to put a queen excluder between the brood box and the entrance to stop them clearing off, but if you suspect this is a cast swarm with a virgin queen don't.
If you are happy with brood and a half then leave them in the super and add brood box over or under.

 

[oliver90owner]

Some pointers to get things right.

Do not feed a newly arrived swarm for three days. There is a very good reason for this; if the honey they bring with them is used up making wax, the new brood hatching after three days aftter she starts laying will not be fed on possibly disease containing honey or that honey will at least be gone from the hive. Clearly not so important if you are sure they are your bees, but just as clearly, they do not need feeding immediately.

If a cast swarm, they are quite likely to abscond. A means of holding them for a couple days is a good idea. Q/E or a frame of open brood are usual aids.

To be honest, if it is only half a nuc, I would be re-uniting them with the other half in short time. Especially if the nuc was a half-hearted attempt at A/S.

A swarm from a nuc is not going to need more than a nuc in which to hive it initially! A single shallow would be adequate and could so easily be converted to a brood and a half later or reverted to a single deep if required.

 

[beenovice]

Some pointers to get things right.

Do not feed a newly arrived swarm for three days. There is a very good reason for this; if the honey they bring with them is used up making wax, the new brood hatching after three days aftter she starts laying will not be fed on possibly disease containing honey or that honey will at least be gone from the hive. Clearly not so important if you are sure they are your bees, but just as clearly, they do not need feeding immediately.

If a cast swarm, they are quite likely to abscond. A means of holding them for a couple days is a good idea. Q/E or a frame of open brood are usual aids.

To be honest, if it is only half a nuc, I would be re-uniting them with the other half in short time. Especially if the nuc was a half-hearted attempt at A/S.

A swarm from a nuc is not going to need more than a nuc in which to hive it initially! A single shallow would be adequate and could so easily be converted to a brood and a half later or reverted to a single deep if required.

Hi RAB,
When and how do I reunite? Do I have find and kill one of the queens?