[CessnaGirl]

Before this spring, the only experience I've had is from splits/cut outs and, of course, these build from the center out. I've been skunked by swarms. For some reason, this spring, we caught 4 swarms with in 3 weeks of each other, 2 huge ones, 1 monsterous one, and 1 mircro one (still in nuc). One characteristic that I find interesting and totally different from my other hives is these swarms start building up from one side of the box and work to the other. :scratch: They are in foundationless Langs. Is this what swarms usually do? The 3 large swarms all have second deeps on them. I moved 2 frames of brood up when I added them and checkerboarded the first deep with the 3 empty frames. All this in less than a month, one will be ready for a super by Sunday. Beautiful. solid brood patterns. Just gorgeous. No aggression so far. I'm thinking I love swarms! They are not from my bees and only one swarm looks like feral bees. Is this normal?

 

[D Semple]

I'm thinking I love swarms! They are not from my bees and only one swarm looks like feral bees. Is this normal?

Yes they start building comb were ever they are inclined too, generally off center to one side, I think it's a temperature related.

Swarms really take off fast, amazing to watch I do everything I can to catch as many early swarms as possible.


Good luck, be prepared they are not always passive.

Don

 

[Michael Bush]

In cooler weather, especially, they prefer the warm side (usually south if it's not in the shade).

 

[CessnaGirl]

In cooler weather, especially, they prefer the warm side (usually south if it's not in the shade).

Well, duh! Geez, I need to look at the big picture and see at what these colonies have in common--the monsterous hive faces east and they started on the south wall; the big tree swarm faces south, so they started filling out all the ends of the frames on the south working north; the little nuc faces south and is building on the south ends of the frames; the 3rd big swarm was caught in warmer weather, faces west, built out on the north side going to the south. Doh!