Why do they leave?

[jrandydavis]

Hello-
Hoping I did something obviously wrong so that someone can point out my mistake. I built a KTBH and collected a newly formed hive (in our utility box) to place in its new home. I was able to transfer 4 combs into two "swarm-ketching" frames and placed them in the KTBH along with the bees. The next morning the bees were there, that afternoon they were all gone.
Any ideas what may have happened?
I did the tranfer around sunset, everything went rather quickly, hive entrance faces east-southeast, the hive was shortened to about 9 frames using a backer board, frames with the comb were placed in the # 3 & 4 positions in the hive- I tried to use everything I learned here on this forum!
I just can't seem to get a hive to "take" yet. Very frustrated.

So now I'm going to start looking for a new swarm:
1) Should I leave the comb in the hive, or should that be removed before another attempt?
2) What is a good way to physically get the bees into a TBH? It was a little dicey this last time. Is there a smooth way of getting them out of container A and into container B?
3) Any ideas what went wrong in the first place?

Thanks for any help,
Randy Davis
San Diego, CA

[JD]

Did you get the queen?

[ScadsOBees]

Was there brood in the comb? I'd guess not. If there isn't much in the hive that they would like, sometimes they have to be forced to stay.

Some ideas to try...a but more tricky with a tbh :
Queen excluder... they can try to leave, but she can't...a bit dicey if you have an after swarm and she hasn't mated yet

You can put a feeder on and then block them in the hive for a day or more...but you have to make sure that it isn't hot or too sunny.

You can spray the inside of the hive with lemon pledge, put in a swarm lure, or some honeybhealthy.

If you have a different hive, a bit of brood will help anchor them to the hive too.

You can leave that comb, but it is really new so the hive scent isn't going to be too strong on it yet. Better to have old comb.

I don't know of a better way to transfer the swarm. Just bang them down to the bottom of the box and dump them in. If they have a place that they are attracted to sometimes you can dump them in front and they will march right in, but I wouldn't try that with new hardware.

The lemon pledge spray inside would probably be the easiest and cheapest to try short term.

Rick

[jrandydavis]

JD-
Not completely sure on the queen. The utility cover that the combs were attached to has small compartments formed by the cross-bracing features in the plastic. I smacked the top with my palm and most of the bees fell into the TBH. The rest were brushed off into the hive. I'm reasonably sure that the queen made it into the hive, but not 100% sure.

ScadsoBees-
Yes there was brood. Quite a bit- poor grubs on the floor of the hive after they took off. Very sad sight. That's the main reason I asked about leaving the combs. I seemed to me that potential new occupants would not be thrilled to take up residence in hive full of dead sisters.
I may try the feeder idea next time. Do you literally block the entrance to keep everyone in? What about the ones still flying about- are they just out of luck? I have lemon Pledge- just spray on the interior of the hive I guess, right? Is "hive scent" you describe good or bad for the swarm-to-be-added?
Well it gives me something new to try next time.

Thanks for the suggestinons.
Randy Davis

[bluegrass]

Did they go back to the utility box? The best thing to do when cutting out a colony is to cage the queen in the new hive for a few days. If you can't get to her than I would close the entrance and feed for a few days until they get a start. You can also reduce to a winter entrance to limit the # of bees that can leave at once.