[beekeeper1756]

On keeping swarms, splits, etc. in their new home, I've read and learned recently that putting an excluder beneath the hive body and above the bottom board keeps the bees inside till the queen begins laying and they are established and less likely to "continue on their journey". I also understand about the necessity of feeding them constantly so that they can draw out foundation, etc.

Here's my question. Would simply closing the entrance do the same thing, i.e. keeping them hive-bound until the colony is established?:scratch:

 

[peacekeeperapiaries]

you can close off the entrance to move them but they will need to fly soon to get to get pollen, and if you dont have SBB's they will quickly overheat. I screen them off to move them, place the swarm in a beeyard, leave screen on overnight, next day pull screen, place excluder on front over entrance, and place feed bucket on them. I do run SBB's on everything so the overheating is not an issue there is plenty of ventilation. Placing the excluder between the box and bottom board also works, I just choose to cut plastic queen excluders to size to fit the entrances and leave my SBB's and brood box permanently attached.

 

[Ravenseye]

There's a bunch of issues here. The excluder won't keep the bees in the hive. It's designed to keep the queen in there but I've seen queens (not many) go through an excluder. It's not foolproof. Blocking the entrance, while still providing ample ventilation, would be more beneficial if you want to keep the bees in the hive.

If the queen starts to lay, the colony kind of feels "obligated" to stay but remember, they left brood behind in the last hive. If you have more than one hive, you can add a frame of open brood to your new colony, helping to create the feeling of establishment.

Finally, yes...feeding will help provide raw materials and the need to draw wax. Most swarms are great at pulling wax. Sometimes it's the most useful aspect of a swarm..that is, the ability for a colony that is hived from a swarm to create comb from foundation.

 

[Ben Brewcat]

I do use an excluder as an "includer", but only for cutouts. Swarms seem to stay put just fine, plus a swarm queen is kinda slimmed down anyways for flight and may not find the QEX to be a total barrier.

 

[beekeeper1756]

Thanks everybody.