Very Strange please advise!

[AJ Boss]

Inspected my 2 Hives on Saturday,
All looked great,
refilled the frame feeders with 1:1 sugar
both had 7 frames each had one frame only partially drawn,
all life stages plenty of bees etc,

Last Night I got a phone call from My friend that owns the land,
He said the about 4pm he was going to spray his crops and as soon as he walked out of the house, he saw a big swarm of bees about 4' x 6' hovering around about 10' in the air and then they flew off this was about 1500-2000 feet away from the hives.....
I am thinking no way my bees swarmed out already they have all they need, unless honey bound, maybe vandelized?

so took the day off work to go check them out,

It was raining so could not do a full inspection but thought that the hives would be empty as soon as i peeked in i saw lots and lots of bees in both???

Also he said he never seen anything like that before???

Whats going on?

[Greg Lowe]

What is your hive configuration? 8 frame or 10 frame? Deeps or mediums? Singles, doubles, triples? Did you notice any swarm cells in your hives?

[NasalSponge]

Sounds like a typical swarm. A swarming hive will not be left empty, in fact a lot of times you cannot tell just by looking they swarmed, to determine that one needs to look for swarm cells.

[AJ Boss]

Its 2, 10 frame hives single brood, which was started from 4 frames now 7 frames, and as i said each had frames that were only part drwan on 1 side.
My thought was that if they swarmed aproxx half of the bees would of left?
and it seemed as though all were there in both hives?
also the guy made it sound as though it was thousands of bees?
but I think it's too much of a coincidense that it's a feral hive showed up 2 weeks after i put my bees there? think i need to take some pictures but the site is over an hour drive.

[JRG13]

Could've been a swarm from a different hive or feral just checking things out then moving on.

[Greg Lowe]

(snip)
also the guy made it sound as though it was thousands of bees?(snip)

2 lbs is 6-7 thousand bees. Could have been a small swarm because they ran out of room. If you checked it in the rain, then it is likely you had few foragers out, so the numbers would look strong. I would give them more room. Is there a reason you are keeping them so confined?

[AJ Boss]

[QUOTE=Greg Lowe;824532]2 lbs is 6-7 thousand bees. Could have been a small swarm because they ran out of room. If you checked it in the rain, then it is likely you had few foragers out, so the numbers would look strong. I would give them more room. Is there a reason you are W

Well only had them like 2 weeks didn't want to give them too much work to do but think i'll add another hive body to bee sure!

[NasalSponge]

If they have only been hived for 2 weeks it is unlikely they swarmed...not impossible, but unlikely. Could have just caught sight of a random swarm.

[AJ Boss]

If they have only been hived for 2 weeks it is unlikely they swarmed...not impossible, but unlikely. Could have just caught sight of a random swarm.

well that was my thinking.. but should i add another hive body in IYO?

[AJ Boss]

Also my bees are AHBs, not sure if that matters?

[NasalSponge]

If they are up to 7 frames it wouldn't hurt anything to throw another box on. Had to google Trinidad to see where you are....the AHB make more sense now. I am told that AHB are very swarmy but I have only experienced them once and didn't keep them around long enough for them to swarm.

[AJ Boss]

If they are up to 7 frames it wouldn't hurt anything to throw another box on. Had to google Trinidad to see where you are....the AHB make more sense now. I am told that AHB are very swarmy but I have only experienced them once and didn't keep them around long enough for them to swarm.

so i have Meds built and painted that I plan to use should i put it on with all 10 frames in?

[NasalSponge]

If they have foundation then yes all 10 frames.

[Greg Lowe]

If you are not using comb that is drawn out already then put all 10 frames in. (or put 10 frames in your bottom hive body and move the feeder up to the top with 8 frames)

[RayMarler]

Move those three empty frames in towards the center of the box in a checker board fashion. Sometimes they'll swarm even with the outter frames not drawn. Add your supers at the same time. Good luck for supers full of honey.

[AJ Boss]

thanks guys!

[AJ Boss]

Hey got a call this morning from the farmer, he said he found the bees in a plow, how can I get them? what do I put them in? I don't have any extra bottom boards now? I don't have a beevac...nor do I know how to make one and don't think I could reach the comb from his discription....

Any Ideas?

[DamSutt1986]

Are they building comb already? If so you'll have a very tough time convincing them to come out. If they just swarmed there you can scoop them into a 5 gallon bucket with tons of tiny holes in it and they could probably last 2 days while you get a bottom board. Either way, if you can't access them easily you are probably out of luck. Best bet might be to put a box with frames and an inner cover underneath where they are. Just use plywood for a base and use only an inner cover so its covered but they can get in. Put some honey on the frames to get them interested. Maybe they will move in.

You may be able to put a box underneath them with wood underneath and no lid, then gently push them down in groups using a stick or something.

[BigGun]

Hey got a call this morning from the farmer, he said he found the bees in a plow, how can I get them? what do I put them in? I don't have any extra bottom boards now? I don't have a beevac...nor do I know how to make one and don't think I could reach the comb from his discription....

Any Ideas?

Don't worry about the bottom board. Use some plywood or something similar until you get a bottom board. Prop the front of the box up with a piece of wood to allow them to come and go. I left a swarm like this for a week while waiting on a bottom and they did fine.