First Swarm & Lost it

[casper_zip]

Hello to all:

Had my first 2011 swarm yesterday, it was a big one. My scouts did a very, very poor job for me. I had 6 traps set out in a big radius, and many clean, extra box hives all in my bee yard.

What did they do ?? They circled a few times, selected a bent sweetgum tree about 100 yards SW, and landed near the top, which was a good 70-80 feet high.

I took a box down and placed it on a tub underneath them, and baited it will lemon oil. I also beat on a pot, and believe it or not, some came to me and stung me. I stayed with my box all morning till noon, ate, came back. At this time, the box was covered with bees, and lots were coming down. The main body of bees would not come down, tho.

The swarm stayed in top of the tree all day, all night, and they left before noon the next day. I hated to loose them, had lots of money tied up in equipment, syrup, and pollen patties. I know that's the name of the game.

I think I'm going to study the info on how to prevent swarms, even tho I need to expand my hive count. Guess I'll have to learn how to make splits, and do that to. Sure hate to lose any bees.

Best,

casper_zip

Anyone chime in and lend any help, info, advice and it would be most welcome.

[Beeman410]

That sucks man...
BUT we learn as we go
This time of year id stay on top of my hives...
check for queen cells weekly, reverse hive bodies, maybe add a super with empty frames to give them room to grow....
if your hives are looking a little crowded order a queen and make a split.

If you find queen cells, take that frame w/ bees and a couple frames of honey/pollen and a couple empty frames and stick'em in a Nuc ..
A few weeks later you should have a new mated queen and the start of a new hive
later transfer them to a regular hive .

[johng]

Don't feel bad I have been having a hard time keeping some of my hives from swarming also this spring. I got some good advise from this thread maybe it will help you. http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251544

[msapostol]

The first swarm we caught swarmed two months later. Yes, we all learn with lots of experience. I now know this hive is very swarmy as compared to my Italians. Don't feel bad...