Caught sarm...now what

[BaldyLocks]

Hey folks,
My very best hive decided it was time to swarm in spite of my attempts to control that...actually I am quite excited but I digress. So I have a few questions about what happens next. I hived the swarm 30 feet from their original hive. After everyone seemed to be inside, I moved the box over to the bee area in my yard a mere 10 feet from the original hive. Will the bees drift back to the original hive at all or are they over that after a swarm? I put a branch from the cedar tree where ther swarmed in front of the door to hopefully force them to reorient to their new location and not worry about their source so I mainly ask the question out of curiosity. My second question...I noticed a lot of bees crawling around on the ground in the path the swarm must have taken out of the original hive. There were males and females and all were acting beat up. Is it normal for a few bees (20-50) being casualties after a swarm? I know bees die and become weak every day but this is not typical of that...they are spread out in a longer path in front of the hive. Thatnks for your help and answers.
Warren

[Michael Bush]

>actually I am quite excited...

It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement of a swarm. You can feed the energy around you.

>Will the bees drift back to the original hive at all or are they over that after a swarm?

Swarms are chaotic. It's hard to say what they will do for sure, but most will probably stay with the new hive.

>My second question...I noticed a lot of bees crawling around on the ground in the path the swarm must have taken out of the original hive. There were males and females and all were acting beat up. Is it normal for a few bees (20-50) being casualties after a swarm?

You, the beekeeper, often injure some in the process of knocking them off the branch etc.

>I know bees die and become weak every day but this is not typical of that...they are spread out in a longer path in front of the hive. Thatnks for your help and answers.

I'm not sure why they would be dead along a path going to the swarm. The bees that swarm are young bees, not old bees about to die. But if it's only 20 to 50 I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[BaldyLocks]

So I had an afterswarm today about three days after the original swarm (I thought it would take longer for a virgin to emerge but...). Both were pretty sizeable swarms and I was able to catch both (they can't swarm again...I am out of equipment). The original hive is pretty low in population compared to where it started. Can afetrswarms continue thus leaving the original hive with a fatally low number or will they just be skinny but survivable? I have read that I shouldn't try to recombine the swarm with the original (at least for awhile) and frankly, I would like the extra colonies but above all, I want to keep my girls alive. Any thoughts?

[Chef Isaac]

I know that when you catch a swarm, as I was taught, to feed it a lot so they can build up and at least be ready for the winter time.

I read in a book that when bees swarm, they forget about their old home, thus no drifting occurs but this is only an opinion from a book.

[Joel]

Usually swarms happen when a good honey flow is on so feeding isn't necessary or reccommended. They may not be interested in what you offer and it won't be as good for them as nectar. They will reorient to the new hive and you won't find any drifting back as long as you caught the queen. It's good to close the entrance with grass when they are 1st. hived to help slow access to the outside and get them working on comb inside. After a couple of days check for eggs to make sure the queen wasn't killed during the hiving and moving of the swarm. If not check again at the end of the week. If it was not the orginal you may have virgin queen but she should be mated in 5 to 7 days. As to the issue of after swarms, I have seen as many as 9 hatched virgin queens in a strong hive. Trying to prevent swarming is like like trying to stop birds from migrating. Better to work with the natural flow and make splits. Once the queen cells are capped it's all over but the flyin. I had some incredible swarm experiances last week while in SC. Saw bees do thing I'd never seen or even imagined. maybe another post. It is a magical, high energy experiance, even the ones that fly off to repopulate the wild. :cool: