[redside57]

A friend of mine climbed 25' up a ladder to catch a small swarm. He shook them into a box as best he could, brought them down. I took them home and installed them in an 8 frame deep box with new plastic foundation just like a pkg. I left them alone for about a week then gave an inspection. They have started to draw out a couple frames but I couldn't find the queen. I am new at this but they look kinda weak to me. Any suggestions on what to do to help them out? They are taking syrup from a mason jar. I do have a pkg that I installed end of April and a nuc later in May that seem to be doing pretty good.....thanks.....mike

 

[TheGeneralsBees]

A swarm. Nice!
From your note I am guessing that you caught this swarm around the 10th of June. Let's assume that this was the after-swarm and has a virgin queen (since she is hard to spot). This would then also be a smaller/weaker swarm. If she swarmed shortly after emerging she there is a good possibility she is just finishing up mating about now, and will begin laying in the next week or so. I would wait another week or two before I became concerned about not seeing any eggs. If you are worried that they don't have enough bodies to fend for themselves, you could add a frame of capped brood and the nurse bees. Personally, I would probably just continue to feed them. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[redside57]

thanks General, sounds like good advice. I'll keep feeding and give them some more time. And try to be more patient.