Sizing up a swarm:worth it to catch

[88beehive]

I was wondering about how small is too small of a swarm that would not be worth fooling with to put in a hive? I have caught small swarms that would fill only about one to one and a half brood frames, maybe two at most and tried keeping them but have always ended up dying on me. Any tips on how to keep them alive without losing them? I know a lot of older beekeepers who have been in it for years have told me it wasn't worth it. I want to know if anyone else has tried keeping small swarms.

[mike haney]

if they are too small just newspaper combine them with another hive

[peggjam]

Put them into a space that is the right size for the swarm. If they only cover one or two frames, put them in a 2 frame nuc box. They tend to do alot better if they have a space they can control. I had a very small swarm, a queen and about a cupful of workers, that I put into a small box. They did well, and I later combined them with a queenless mating nuc. They are still going strong:).

[Joel]

I don't think the question is the size of the swarm but whether swarms are worth catching and that depends on your operation and point of view.

As a hobbyist I chased swarms like a crazy man in trees, in walls, on fire hydrants had a vacuum, carried a nuc box in my truck everywhere I went. As the A-typical beekeeper the excitement of free bees and thrill of the capture was more than I could resisit.

Swarms present an oxymoron of possibilities. They could be loaded with bees gorged on AFB spore laden honey (or any other variety of disease) which will infect your operation or they may be some exceptional survivor stock which could improve your genetics. Only about 50% of swarms, and generally those caught early in the season are likely to get through the 1st year and do well. In many cases the huge swarms contain the old queen and workers which will do an incredible buildup for a month or so and then supercede the queen which is fraught with danger for the hive. The smaller swarms are often unmated virgin queens which will be in a fight for survival due to the 30 days or so of dwindling population until mating and hatching takes place. Often these issues coincide with a nectar dearth in mid summer in our area so require feeding and other attention.

Time has become the real issue for us. I agree with Mike, if you chase swarms, no swarm is too small for a newspaper combine. Even with time contstaints sometimes I have to take a cold shower to keep from making a drive to catch the next big swarm! :)

[mike haney]

"Even with time contstaints sometimes I have to take a cold shower to keep from making a drive to catch the next big swarm" it's a sickness. what we need is a good 12 step(hive?) program:) maybe get some big insurance co's to cover bee meetings:)

[peggjam]

I'm currently working on a patch to cure this sickness:). Early attempts have failed miserably though:(.

[Fuzzy]

I think that you will have good success if you steal a frame of hatching brood from another hive and place it with the swarm. May need to do this a second time 2-3 weeks later. But the swarm should flourish with the extra brood AND plenty of feed.

Fuzzy

[88beehive]

They have always died but I did have them in a shallow super rather than a brood box and put plenty of honey on top for them to receive plenty of food. I know it was too large but didn't have anything smaller than a super. Also, catching a small swarm like this would it be necessary to put mite strips in just in case they have mites or would they probably leave because of it being a new location for them.

[livetrappingbymatt]

Why not take a hive body,deep or medium and put dividers in it? If you catch a a small swarm you can have a ready made space for them.You can cut the groove with a straight back saw or router,then use luan as the partition.
bob