Anybody getting any swarm calls right now?

**hemichuck** · 08-21-2012, 08:21 PM

I got 2 swarm calls today and one cutout job.I went to check out the swarm in an apartment complex about 5 apartments down from where the cutout is.They were up in a tree about 40 feet so I told the lady I would put a swarm trap out on the balcony. When I got up there the bees were all over the balcony and brick wall like they were looking for a way in. I sat my box down right beside them and slowly shoved it up against the bees and they started to walk up into the hole and go inside. A couple of minutes later they all started fanning and the rest of the bees clustered up in the tree about 25 ft over the balcony started coming down a few at a time and walking in the box.When it got dark out there was still a very small amount of bees in the tree(about the size of a cigar) and the rest had gone in the box. I'm going to assume the queen was in there(since they were fanning). I brought them home and did a newspaper combine with a queenless hive I had.

**Slow Modem** · 08-21-2012, 11:55 PM

I got to deal with my first swarm at work the week before last. Luckily there was a beekeeper here that knew what to do. But I got to learn about it.

http://gregsbees.blogspot.com/2012/0...t-to-help.html

**Mr.Beeman** · 08-22-2012, 05:21 AM

Getting cut out calls every monday.
Swarms, not so much.

**Clairesmom** · 08-22-2012, 07:13 AM

Yeah, I am getting several calls a week, and I don't even do swarm/bee removals, except in rare cases.

I am also getting lots of calls for queens from people who are still losing queens from Spring packages, and from swarming (they end up without a mated queen after the swarm leaves).

It has been a really crazy year this year.

**Paul McCarty** · 08-22-2012, 09:18 AM

I have had a few lately, mostly cut outs/trap outs though.

**DJS** · 08-22-2012, 05:30 PM

Had a swarm call out last Thursday, when I arrived at the site there was 2 small swarms in the same tree about 10 feet apart and about 8 feet up in the tree. Went very smooth with bee vac.

**willyC** · 08-23-2012, 07:32 AM

Have a cutout to do. When is the best time of day to do this?

**Paul McCarty** · 08-23-2012, 09:23 AM

I try and do them when the foragers are all out. and working. Some people do really aggressive hives at night, but I never have. Those usually get the soapy water treatment when I mess with them.

**hemichuck** · 08-23-2012, 09:34 PM

My preference is to get them right before dark because I know all the bees will be there.If I do them earlier in the day I like to leave a box by the blocked entrance to give the bees a place to go.People dont like straglers. The first swarm call I got on Tuesday was about 15 feet up in a tree,not real big, so I stuck a box right up against them and shook them in. There were a lot of bees flying and I had a lot to do so I left the box on top of my ladder where the bees could find it. The homeowner called me a couple of hours later and said a storm was coming so he set my nuc box on the ground and laid my ladder down. He said all the bees were in the box. I went back a little while later to pick it up and there were a few bees flying around(not too many) so I sealed it up and headed home. When I got there I opened it up and there were like 10 bees in there. They had completely emptied a frame of nectar that I had put in there and left the box before I got back to pick it up!

**jdawdy** · 08-23-2012, 10:29 PM

I've gotten three swarm calls in the last week here in southern New Mexico. I'm a bit puzzled by this, honestly. I suspect that these bees are swarming so as to give the parent hive a chance to survive the winter, basically committing suicide, because I can't imagine the swarms have a snowballs chance of building up enough stores to make it. The bees I hived back in late June are only now starting to build up with heavy feeding, and I'm pretty sure I am going to have to feed them to get them through the winter- and this is a part of the country that doesn't get cold until November.

**Keth Comollo** · 08-24-2012, 04:59 AM

I got a call for one yesterday here in Vermont. August 23rd swarm! Small ball of bees and a queen. Dumped into a nuc and added a couple of frames of brood and bees from a strong hive. Doubt they make it through winter but worth a shot.

The best part is that I found the parent hive in the roof of an old condemned hotel and have contacted the owners. They agreeded to let me do the cutout next spring if they survive. Gotta love free bees!

**Mr.Beeman** · 08-24-2012, 05:04 AM

jd,
When a hive is full.... it's full. A swarm will soon follow. The stores only have to be enough to sustain the size of the swarm. Some do however, perish.
I have another cut out this coming week and have had several more calls in the last couple of days.

**AJ Farms** · 08-24-2012, 03:25 PM

Checked out a cutout today in a barn wall they will be coming home with me tomorrow . Have another cutout to do next wekend aswell potentially 3 colonies there. Both cutouts they were telling me that they've had swarms in the last couple weeks come out of he colonies thats how they found out they were there.