From: "huestis" <buzzybee@capital.net>
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 08:50:08 -0700
To: <BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: Wintering Fall Swarms (Re:best mating time?)

Hi Dee,

> pick them up late fall to early spring. They must be given empty combs to
> have the queen immediately lay in as much as possible to produce winter
> carryover bees.

I almost always utilize such swarms to draw foundation. In almost every
instance the girls rapidly draw combs. Often quite a few a drawn by the next
day. The queen can be seen laying in cells that are not completely finished
being constructed. So populations still are good and you get new combs.
Combs in my POV are the second most important thing to the beekeeper other than the bees themselves. They go hand in glove, you can't have one without the other (not for long anyways).

> They must also be fed both pollen and honey stores
> throughout the off season, until fresh nectar is available in the spring
> to support them on their own again.

Yes. The easy way to remedy this is to just add a deep(full) honey super on
top of the colony making a triple. Yes you lose some of your crop, or was
it really yours? Either way you get it back the following season.

> while the process is being done. For those willing to do the work the
> chance of survival averages about 50% for a decent sized swarm and
> less for a midget!

30% for those going into the wild. I would say maybe a bit better than 50%
for a decent sized swarm(foundations). Small swarms can also be wintered as a nuc in a piggyback setup with good results ( I have had a few bad
experiences which were my own fault). Using the honey super method above
puts you in the 80-90% bracket.

Clay