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New guy, caught a swarm, twice.

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  GaryG74 
#1 ·
Last Thursday there was a fair sized swarm in my back yard about 20' from the back door and about 14' up hanging off a tree limb.

First thing I did was get the camera and get some pics then I called a beekeeper friend to see if he wanted the swarm.
He showed up with a hive that had drawn comb and we managed to get the swarm in the hive by cutting off the branch they were on and pulling enough frames out to put the branch in. About then I realized that my beekeeper friend wasn't going to load up the hive in the back of his SUV. I had been back and forth about starting up for a couple of years and had been again leaning toward going for it but had figured I'd gear up this fall and get bees next year. He decided I was ready to start. He also said anything I needed I could borrow from him till I got my own.
Now I got bees.

Friday morning I shook them off the branch and closed the top. Friday afternoon they were gone. Oh well, win some-lose some.

I put the frames we had pulled out back in the box and figured I haul it back to his place Saturday.
Saturday about noon I walked down to load it up and it was alive with bees, I guess they decided it was a pretty good place after all.
I watched them for quite a while and took lots of pictures and could see they were busy cleaning the place up and looked like they were settling in nicely







I put an entrance feeder with 1:1 and closed off part of the opening. I figure I'll leave them alone for another week before I open it up and see how they are doing. In the mean time it's fascinating to watch them coming and going. They seem pretty docile, I can stand 10-12 feet away and they don't bother me while I'm taking pictures and they didn't get feisty when I added the feeder and entrance reducer.

Here's hoping.
 
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#3 ·
Saturday will be a week since they more or less moved into the hive on their own after leaving and coming back.
I set up a feeder with 1:1 and reduced the entrance.
I've been advised to give them a couple of weeks to settle in before I go to bothering them.
The hive had 7-8 frames of drawn comb from an old hive that was winter killed.
**IF** things go well for this swarm What should I expect to see after 2 weeks which will be next Saturday?
 
#5 ·
sounds great, just what i am doing too.. i tried to look for eggs when i switched my guys from a nuc to a full sized hive, But i quickly realized there were too many bees and very little comb.. so each frame was just a mound of bees.. i couldn't see anything. I'll try in a week or 2
 
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