Peaches Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Despite all our best efforts with artificial swarms etc, our bees have just swarmed... I followed them down the hill and was very lucky that they settled quite soon in a neighbours's front garden. Even luckier, on a low branch of a big bush. OH (Kermit) and I donned suits, smoked up and found cardboard box and have just shaken swarm into box. Kermit is still down the hill with the bees (no sign of neighhours as yet) seeing if they stay in box which has been left upside down with gap at bottom for rest of swarm to make their way in. I was a nervous wreck! But if it works .... then we are on a way to catching up with Daphne's tally of swarm catching! Keep your fingers crossed for us .... Fi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Well done! As my bee 'mentor' said to me, bees don't read the books! Hope you can get them back in the hive. Interestingly, I recently bought some very cheap second-hand books on bee keeping, just for interest; one is the 'Smallholders Guide to Keeping Bees', and it's published in 1911. The accepted practice then seemed to be that bees would swarm, and that was just what they did - you kept a close eye out for it, recaptured the swarm and popped it in a second hive, and then you either kept it or sold it, there was no attempt made at preventing swarming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Thanks, Olly. That's a good point you make. We were just lucky it was a Sunday, OH was in the garden and heard the noise - if it had been during the week, then very unlikely we'd have known about it. However, each time something happens with the bees and we have to do something, we feel a bit more like real beekeepers. Elsewhere someone has said that year 2 is a lot more difficult that year 1 of beekeeping - I definitely agree. It's also more rewarding too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Oooh - well done I'm sure you'll be fine. Their instinct is to go into the nice dark box - assuming Queenie is there of course. I presume you've propped it up with a brick or something so stragglers can enter - perhaps give it 30-60 minutes. Remember they're full of honey so a bit more docile than usual - swarms have certainly been forgiving of my more cavalier moments! My bit of advice would be to put a feed on (probably in the morning of thin syrup) and to make sure you've got porter bee escape/something over the feeding hole you're not using. In an emergency my mentor said you could tip them into a hive with just 4 or 5 undrawn frames. Also I've read that spraying foundation with your liquid feed helps the bees decide they'd make a tasty home, but I don't know how to do that - maybe with a plant mister? I opted (unintentionally) for spilling a little syrup on a couple of frames whilst inverting the feeder instead. Good Luck! PS Our swarmcatcher is a firm believer in the laissez-faire approach Olly - he never artificially swarms his own hives (and not because he is the swarmcatcher!) and believes in minimal interference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Well, it just goes to show that even if you do all the artifical swarming stuff they can still swarm .... as they say, bees don't read books! Daphne, we proped open the box with a flowerpot. Last time we looked the foragers were out and and about, so once the sun goes down we'll go and collect them. When you say put a feed on, excuse my thickness, but do you mean when they are in the box still or when you hive them? Fi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 When you hive them - I made a thin syrup (ie 1 pint water to 1 lb sugar); thats what the books advise, I suppose it falls down quicker being less viscous (or viscose as I've just typed!). Its just a way of letting the bees know this is a nice place to be and also gives them a boost. If you make it up now, it'll be nice and cool for the morning. In fact, I have some here as my 3rd swarm left home before I could give it to them - shame you're not nearer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8landy Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Peaches, Have you checked the orginal hive from where the swarm came for more queen cells? If you do not sort that hive out you could losse a cast swarm from it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Have checked the hive for queen cells: OH found one and removed it. We think the bees swarmed because when did the artificial swarm last weekend we moved the frame with the queen on to the new hive and the rest of the box was foundation and the bees didn't have drawn comb for the queen to lay. Our bees are Carnolian and apparently they just want to work and are a bit prone to swarming. We'll collect the box in about half an hour, put it in the garage and have a think about re-uniting it. Steep learning curve here! Cheers - Fi (and Kermit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Just got back from retreiving the box. There were a few flying bees - 10 to 20 - but we thought it best to give our neighbours their garden back. I just lifted the box and Peaches folded up the lid. We put it in a sheet and wrapped it up. We must've looked funny walking up the road in full bee suits . The box is now going to sit in the garage for a day or two before we put them back in the hive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8landy Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 The box is now going to sit in the garage for a day or two before we put them back in the hive. just remeber the 3 ft / 3 mile rule! Why combne them back? Make use of it to expand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Does this mean you are keeping the bees in a box in your garage for a day or two? As they take enough honey with them to last a couple of days I'd be getting them into their new home asap so they can settle down/get to work/start to fly (and/or leave). I wouldn't want to deal with a box of hungry bees and/or have them so they don't have enough energy to go and forage properly (not meaning to alarm you, and you know I'm a novice so maybe I'm being over-anxious!) I couldn't hazard a guess as to why your Queen left, although I suppose 2 drawn frames from the original hive (ie one with Queen, one with food) would give you a better chance of immediate laying than just one. But then where does the food go - into the bees? My real swarm went into a 'new' 2nd hand hive with total foundation and no drawn comb and they are still there but then the 2nd swarm (which I instinctly feel was a cast, it was smaller and oddly behaved) left its brand new home. I'm finding swarming and then whether they stay or leave to be a bit of a mystery - I cope by telling myself to just go with the flow. TBH - I'm very grateful to have had a week off from swarm collecting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 We left them in the box overnight and put them back in the hive this evening. There's lots of food there in a super and we are feeding too. The suggestion is that they were just not happy. Yes, I know they are going back where they were, but hopefully they find it better this time after spending some time in a box. I also moved a frame down from the super so that they had more drawn comb. Local bee inspector suggests leaving it there for varroa conbtrol in the future. We shall see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted May 18, 2010 Author Share Posted May 18, 2010 Tuesday morning and I'm sat at the computer but keeping an eye on the hives in case they decide to swarm as it's going to be quite warm today.... Daphne, like you, I am just going to have to go with the flow. They were only in the box for 24 hours and so had plenty of stores and we've given them more. v8landy we've combined them because we think they left because they were unhappy with their new home.... will soon find out. On the plus side (said before the blighters swarm again) I'm glad I've had the experience of a swarm: seen it, heard it, handled it etc. It's all good hands-on learning. Still, we are aware that all the feeding, hive building and painting etc might come to nothing if they all disappear off. Fingers crossed ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Bees are contrary little blighters aren't they? I created two mini nuc swarms from queen cells in my hive and subsequently my main colony seem quite happy and are showing no further signs of wanting to swarm (so far). My friend, on the other hand, has had her bees swarm about 5 times. Our apiary manager says she must have a "naughty queen" and finds it very exciting. Between us we have learned so much this spring. It's all a valuable lesson, but a tad scary nevertheless. Good luck with your swarm Peaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 It's happened AGAIN . This time it was the hive with the single queen cell that we left after our artificial swarm. Here's the story... Yesterday they issued twice, but advice was to leave them. We could do more damage by looking in the hive (wrong). 3pm today - off they go. So, we opened up the hive. Definitely low on bees, but lots of stores for those left behind. We also found 6-8 queen cells. So, quick conflab.... Decide to remove all but one queen cell. Did this and then had a last check on the queen cell left - empty . Quick - stick queen cell back onto frame. Do this and start to put hive back together. Turn around and another queen cell sat on the table beside the hive is hatching . So, out with stuck on queen cell and in with newly hatched queen . Hopefully we have removed all queen cells and have a viable queen in the hive. Moral of this - 1. After an artificial swarm check the hives a week later. This would have told us that we had a problem with too many queen cells. 2. Don't believe the books - they say that after an articial swarm leave one cell and then don't look in again for ages - what happened to us was that they raised a load more emergency queen cells. 3. BEES DON'T READ THE BOOKS. What I have seen though is a queen hatching . Bet not many have seen that. Cheers Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Goodness its been all go for you hasn't it? I must admit I smiled at the bit where you stuck the QC back (great mental image) - how do you do that exactly I really hope they settle down now. When we looked in our new hive (2 weeks old) with the swarm from my original hive in it we found loads of bees, but we couldn't find the Queen and not sure we have many/any eggs but there is honey and a bit of pollen. There were no QCs but the comb building is very erratic on 2 frames. We have a couple of mini-moonscapes with higgledepiggledy cells. So we shall just keep an eye on it. The original hive, is, of course, depleted and although it has a Queen and everything is proceeding OK I feel it will be a while until they use the super. Year 2 is a real learning curve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 To stick a queen cell onto a frame - squidge it with sufficient force to squeeze into the honey. Of course there probably is a right way to do it, but when you are panicking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Goodness its been all go for you hasn't it? I must admit I smiled at the bit where you stuck the QC back (great mental image) - how do you do that exactly I watched my mentor do just that. You put a cocktail stick through the very end, carefully, as queens are very fragile in their cells, and suspend it between two frames. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Gosh - it is a steep learning curve, isn't it! I couldn't find the queen to do an artificial swarm on mine, and neither could my mentor, although there were eggs and brood present. We removed all the queen cells, and left it a week. Next time we looked - no eggs, no larvae, and one sealed queen cell. My mentor's advice was that they hadn't swarmed, because the hive was still full of bees, and he said they didn't sound queenless (I didn't realise you could tell that much just by listening). His advice was to leave them alone for a week, and then check to see if there are eggs and brood, because his best guess was that the queen has died/been killed and they were raising another. I'd already got a second brood box, ready to do the artifical swarm, and I was keen to start a second colony, so it's a bit frustrating from that point of view! They are still flying and seem to be bringing in pollen, so I'm hopeful that when I look next I will find eggs and brood. Fingers crossed, I am desperate to take a look but won't be home in time tonight. There is such a lot to learn, this was a scenario I hadn't expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
