I robbed my three hives three weeks ago. Did OK. Since there was plenty of capped honey in the upper corners of the two brood boxes and a 60% full medium super on top, I closed things up and left the apiary.
Four days ago I discovered a fairly large swarm attached to the fence of my goat run. I'm sure they are mine but I do not know which hive they came from. I shook them (and lifted several hand-fulls) into a swarm trap that I had available and put in 4 deep frames of drawn comb with some honey sprinkled on the comb. They have been sealed in there for four days now and I still do not know what I should do with them. I do not really want to start another hive. I do not think I should try to combine them with one of my established colonies (although one is obviously missing some of their relatives) because they might have been too crowded and swarmed as a result.
I may dump them into a nuc box and try to get them through the winter but it's not something that I really want to do. I would check carefully for a queen and, if needed, I can come up with a queen for this box.
Any suggestions? Thanks.
Four days ago I discovered a fairly large swarm attached to the fence of my goat run. I'm sure they are mine but I do not know which hive they came from. I shook them (and lifted several hand-fulls) into a swarm trap that I had available and put in 4 deep frames of drawn comb with some honey sprinkled on the comb. They have been sealed in there for four days now and I still do not know what I should do with them. I do not really want to start another hive. I do not think I should try to combine them with one of my established colonies (although one is obviously missing some of their relatives) because they might have been too crowded and swarmed as a result.
I may dump them into a nuc box and try to get them through the winter but it's not something that I really want to do. I would check carefully for a queen and, if needed, I can come up with a queen for this box.
Any suggestions? Thanks.