[Ted n Ms]

A swarm in july ain't worth a fly. But i hived em anyway. It was about two and half lbs. Also i gave them a feeder. I guess i'll keep them around if they don't make a stong enough hive i can combine or i will have spare queen.

 

[lupester]

Hey Ted I just hived one last night...it was about 4-5 pounds...I'll take it!

 

[artnailer]

I hived one yesterday also and it was the biggest swarm I have ever caught it filled the brood chamber. Ill feed them and love them just as if I caught them in April.

 

[WVaBees]

Are you just more in tune to seeing/finding swarms since beginning beekeeping or are you just getting calls and going to the location of the swarm? I just wonder because in my 34 years I have never seen a bee swarm. Hoping next spring after I have some hives that will change

 

[Damonh]

Re: a swarm in July

I also have hived two swarms this week. Last year I got 3 July swarms and 2 of them made it through the winter. You really need to feed, feed, feed.

 

[Birdman]

I got one late August last year feed them. They will make it.

 

[brettsbees]

I had a swatm abscond from a nuc to a tree. No brood left behind and what little swarm she had settled in a tree nearby. I hived them with new foundation and frames yesterday and today she took off again. I have caught them again in another nearby tree and again in brood box. How do I keep her from leaving?

 

[NY_BLUES]

if they dont like the hive you put them in, they will leave. it just happens like that sometimes

 

[Batman]

Queen cage?
Queen excluder?
Best bet and easiest to do...get a frame of brood from another hive, sweep all the bees off and then give it to them...women and babies....nuff said. Lol

C2

 

[Troy]

Put them back in the box.

Put a queen excluder on the bottom so the queen is stuck IN the box. If the queen can't leave, the swarm will draw some comb and she will lay in it. Once there are some eggs, they will stay.

Another way is to borrow a frame of open brood from another hive and put that in the box. They are quite unlikely to leave open brood. The queen will settle in and start laying and all will be well.

 

[D Coates]

Are you just more in tune to seeing/finding swarms since beginning beekeeping or are you just getting calls and going to the location of the swarm? I just wonder because in my 34 years I have never seen a bee swarm.

Before I started keeping bees I saw 3 clustered swarms. I knew they were bees but didn't have a clue of anything beyond that. 2 of them flew away and the other apparently died in the chimney of the home I grew up in. When winter rolled around the potbellied stove was chok-o-block with long-dead bees as I set up the fire. I lit it and never thought another thing about it. In hindsite I was lucky there wasn't a hive in that had set up in there. It was a stone chimney from 1857 and there's no telling what would have happened. I've not seen one on my own since I started keeping bees. I get people who call me about them now. Get on some of those swarm retrieval lists including the one on here.

 

[WVaBees]

Get on some of those swarm retrieval lists including the one on here.

I certainly will. Just need a hive first so I can set up shop...lol...A friend of mine owns the local pest control service here in town so I plan to get ahold of him as well in case he gets calls for swarms. That way if I am ready I can assist in the removal so if nothing else I can prevent them from being sprayed and get them moved someplace safe.

 

[Birdman]

I called all the pest control companies. I get alot of call for cut out from them.

 

[Mike Gillmore]

I called all the pest control companies.

I'll second that. Early next spring call every pest control company in the area and get your name in front of them. Don't forget to drop off a quart of honey or buy them lunch if they set you up with a swarm. You'll be surprised how anxious they'll be to call you on the next one.

 

[NY_BLUES]

I was actually contacted by a pest control company for swarms this spring. in return for the calls he sends me, i turn other pest control issues to him, works for both of us.

 

[basser59]

WVaBees,
This is only my second year keeping bees. One day we were going to town and my Wife spotted a swarm on a road sign. Luckily I had a empty hive and my suit in the truck. I also called the Sheriff's office and I have gotten 3 cut out from them calling me.

 

[Hambone]

Hey Ted I just hived one last night...it was about 4-5 pounds...I'll take it!

I got one last Thrusday. My last swarm call of the year is typically the week of 4th of July.

 

[walking bird]

The best list you can get on is with your local county/city fire dept. That's the entity people seem to call as a knee-jerk reaction to seeing swarms of bees (and rattlesnakes, for that matter). They call them before they call pest control services, because they know pest control services will charge them for anything they do. They figure the Fire dept. will come to their rescue for free.

The FD is happy to give them my name without having to roll on the call themselves, and I get lots of free bees.

 

[CentralPAguy]

I just called a Pest Control company for a pest problem in one of my apartments and I got to talking with their guy. He asked me about cutouts, which I don't do, but I would take bees.

I think that I will go down tomorrow and drop some honey off, great idea.....

By the way, he told me that Pennsylvania has given the approval to kill the honeybees. I was shocked to say the least.