How do Captured Swarms work into your apiary if you're focused on genetics?

[Adam Foster Collins]

I've got swarm traps out.

I wonder how (or if) captured swarms work into your management scheme if you are working on breeding and working toward specific genetic profiles? How do you deal with captured swarms, or do you avoid anything that lies outside very specific genetics?

Thanks,

Adam

[grozzie2]

Support staff.

Mating nucs need bees. Hives need comb. Nothing builds more comb faster than a wet swarm. A good swarm will give you 8 to 10 deeps of comb with bees in a month. From that you can stock 3 nucs on fresh comb, a very happy place for a ripe cell.

[canoemaker]

Requeen it!

[Adam Foster Collins]

Okay, resources. But what about the drones that come with those colonies? Don't the end up as a part of the gene pool in your apiaries? Do these additions just add to the vigor and diversity? Or are these a concern at all?

Adam

[grozzie2]

If you dont catch the swarm, and it settles within a couple of kilometers of where you had the trap set, would the drones from that hive still be within reach of your mating setup ? If so, then what difference does it make ? Those drones will be in the local pool, wether you catch them or not.

[Adam Foster Collins]

True enough. But in my case, I've got traps set over a few hours driving span. So if I catch swarms in them, I will be bringing them into my yards from outside the range of mating queens.

Adam