What to do after a swarm

[Liam C Ryan]

Hi all. my best hive swarmed yesterday and l,v hived the swarm. What is the best way to make a good foraging hive with the swarm,d hive and the old hive. I left one selaled queen cell in the old hive.
Regards
Liam C

 

[ashleybee]

That depends on how big the swarm was. Did you hive them on foundation? if so then give the 48 hours or so then feed some light syrup to get them going, they should build up fairly fast, then treat them as any other colony. Swarms do generally have a lot of momentum to get going .
AB

 

[beeno]

Hi all. my best hive swarmed yesterday and l,v hived the swarm. What is the best way to make a good foraging hive with the swarm,d hive and the old hive. I left one selaled queen cell in the old hive.
Regards
Liam C

Hi Liam,
I would put the queenless lot with the QC you put in yday into a nuc. Scorch their hive and hive the swarm in it with foundation only. Feed syrup in three days time. If you can put queen excluder in to prevent HM from flying off as well you should be home and dry on that one. Go back to the swarmed hive and make sure you leave only 1 (me) or 2 QC preferably open ones where you can see the larvae. Good luck.

 

[beeno]

Sorry Liam not read the OP properly. You have done all that! Finman says, you can recombine swarmed hive with old hive (newspaper method). Swarm fever is supposed to have stopped after they have drawn comb, but you will have to decide whether you are going to wait to see if the virgin get mated and is laying well before you reunite and decide which queen to keep. Question to Finman, you have said recombine after one week then you have decided to keep old queen or did you just unite with a bought mated queen?

 

[Finman]

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Essential is in swarming case that a hive devides into two and boath parts are then incapable forage honey surplus. Swarm hive is soon stucked with brood and old brood hive lost its foragers.
Only way is to join again.

Essential is too that old queen continues laying for main yield. It is only May and more laying is needed.

Virgin is good, because the hive is not willing to swarm again during next month, but it takes 2-3 weeks time that it starts to lay. ...but it is not wise to keep those swarming daughters.


in my case I try to rear laying queens from my earliest swarmers. I put swarm cells into cages and I make mating nucs. so when next swarm appears, I have young laying queens, not only queen cells.

BUT however, I use to keep old laying queen because continuous laying is most important.
To keep the daughters of early swarmers keeps your yard swarming next year.
Early swarming is a bad feature.

I renew queens every year and I do not have reason to abandon it, not at least if it is best layer.

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[Arfermo]

Hi all. my best hive swarmed yesterday and l,v hived the swarm. What is the best way to make a good foraging hive with the swarm,d hive and the old hive. I left one selaled queen cell in the old hive.
Regards
Liam C

Hope you treated for varroa with oxalic? Swarms of any sort is an opportunity not to be missed as there is no brood at all and any phoretic mites are then only on the bees themselves.

 

[itma]

That depends on how big the swarm was. Did you hive them on foundation? if so then give the 48 hours or so then feed some light syrup to get them going, they should build up fairly fast, then treat them as any other colony. Swarms do generally have a lot of momentum to get going .
AB

Since the swarm is KNOWN to have come from your hive, it is known (isn't it?) to be disease-free, so there's no point in delaying their feed.

 

[Finman]

Since the swarm is KNOWN to have come from your hive, it is known (isn't it?) to be disease-free, so there's no point in delaying their feed.

swarm bees are full of honey and they cannot take any more. They may swarm again if you push them full of syrup. Let them first start comb buildig and thhen feed.


Swarm starts comb building from one side. Not from centre.

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[richardbees]

the best way to make a good foraging hive with the swarm,d hive and the old hive

Liam, it's a pity you have left only a sealed Q cell......are there any eggs?
If so I'd suggest make a 3 frame nuc with the Q cell frame, some sealed brood with stores and added nurse bees.

Then put the hived swarm on the original site after moving the old hive with remaining frames of brood and bees to one side about 18" away. They will make an emergency Q cell but more important - in a weeks time you can move that hive to the other side thus capture all the flying bees that emerged during the week.

hope that makes sense....richard