when to recombine a swarm catch

[dougn]

I'm looking for advice on how long I should wait between hiving a swarm and recombining it with another hive. I want to give them enough time to get established, but still get them recombined before the honeyflow. I hived this swarm two weeks ago. Yesterday I checked it and saw lots of drawn comb and eggs.

Thanks,
Doug

[dougn]

Still hoping for ideas. Or maybe this has been discussed and there is a thread I'm not finding.

Thanks,
Doug

[Brandy]

Well, I'll bite. I usually give my swarms a month or so. Out of the swarms, I combine the bottom 50% with either other hives, swarms, or nuc's. Keep the top 50% to see what they can do for the season. I usually feed syrup long enough for them to draw out foundation and then stop the feed and start with the supers. By then their numbers are up and the flow is on. My top swarms usually provide 2-3 supers above their winter requirements.

[Fuzzy]

I frequently merge a swarm with a weak hive the same day I collect them. Just use the newspaper method. Within a week they are usually ready for another deep.

Fuzzy

[Mike Gillmore]

You can do a newspaper combine any time now.

Which queen were you planning to eliminate?

[dougn]

If I recombine with a recently requeened hive, I would eliminate the swarm queen.

[signqueen]

Today I combined a swarm my husband caught yesterday (off our one of ours) with a weak hive at my father's house next door. I couldn't find the queen in the old hive this time and never could find any eggs, I had been putting some eggs and brood in from a different hive into it, so hopefully the swarm queen will take over. We will see in a few days. Oh, and I used two layers of newspaper, and blocked the hole in the top super where I placed them with a frame of nectar and one of brood. It has worked in the past, I just worry about not being able to remove one of the queens.

[okb]

If I recombine with a recently requeened hive, I would eliminate the swarm queen.

Just curious but why the swarm queen?

Nevermind, I thought it over and I can see why.

[naturebee]

Your not going to get a surplus until the bees have filled the two deeps anyways, so since you have 2 queens working, take advantage of that, and wait until the swarm has drawn out, or colony has covered about 9 frames.

Best Wishes,
Joe
Feralbeeproject.com