[Chick]

Picked up my first swarm of the year. A woman called looking for someone to get the bees out of a hollow tree. Told her I didn't want to do a trap out, but if they swarmed, and she got a ball of bees on a limb in a tree, to call me. 3 hours later, she is calling. Said there was a ball, just like I told her, in a crepe myrtle, about 20 ft from the bee tree. Got about 1.5 - 2 lbs of bees. Fairly gentle.

 

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Congratulations, free bees are the best!

 

[Budster]

Looks like it worked out good for you and the bees! But, as you know, there are still bees in the tree. Next years swarm call? Them bees could have been in that tree for the last 20 years. Nobody really notices them until they start to swarm.

 

[Chick]

Doesn;t look like it. My swarm absconded. I went out to look at them this evening, and they were gone. Maybe I will pick them back up in one of my swarm traps. They were there yesterday evening. I had put a quart of sugar syrup in a division board feeder. It was empty, of course. I should have put a frame of brood, from one of my other hives, in there. I doubt if the queen would have left the brood. Oh well. Darn it!

 

[Hambone]

Doesn;t look like it. My swarm absconded. I went out to look at them this evening, and they were gone.

One thing to try when catching swarms is using a queen excluder as an includer. I have some queen excluders that I cut up and placed on the front to cover the entrace. This keeps the queen in the hive and forces them to make it a home. Haven't lost a swarm since I started using it.

Here is a pic. I now have them cut down to where staples hold it on and are easily put on and removed.

 

[Chick]

I know one long tall Texan that will be doing the same thing on the next swarm, Hambone! Thanks!

 

[standman]

I use the queen excluder as an includer, as suggested, except that I don't cut mine. I just place them on top of the bottom board before I set the bottom brood chamber on. Have not lost a cut-out, split, or captured swarm since I started using them. One other thing, if you use a screened bottom board, make sure you close it when you hive the swarm. They want it dark and cozy, and I think it helps the queen pheremone to more easily permeate the hive.

 

[Batman]

Putting and excluder under the brood chamber sounds like a good idea. I could have used that last year as one cut out fled. The swarm I capped last weekend, I couldn't have done it since the hive body is nailed to the bottom board, but think I am past the point of worry since I inspected the hive on Wednesday and found eggs, the queen was already laying! I was very happy to see that inspite of giving them some frames that needed cleaning up, they got the job done and seem to be doing good. Now if I could find my iphone so I'll be ready for the next call, life would be good. It's been MIA for 3 days now, prob time to give up and go to Best Buy for a replacement.

Craig

 

[Chick]

As I put the swarm in a nuc, I would have to cut the excluder, regardless, unless I would want the excluder (plastic) to stick out 8 inches on either side. On the nuc, I think it would be easier to just cut a piece of plastic excluder and place across the entrance.

 

[USCBeeMan]

Have used the exluder as an includer many times. Some with swarms and some with packages.

Before leaving a swarm site and you know you have the bees but you didn't see the queen, look around on the ground or limbs. If you see a small group of bees. Could be anywhere from 5 to 15 bees better check it out as they queen may be with those bees. Found that to be the case several times.

 

[baldwinbees]

I cut up plastic queen excluder into 2"x4" pieces&tack-nail[drive nails in halfway &bend over,this way removal is easy] a piece to 1 side of entrance.Then cut piece of 3/4x3/4 as an entrance reducer just long enough to tuck behind the piece of queen exc.&so far have all 5 swarms caught this week.they are drawing out the foundation, so in a few days I'll remove it all.

 

[kyfarmer]

When I get swarms the homeowner wants all bees taken with me. So I have made two trips when the swarm is close to me. One to shake it into a hive and the second trip to get them about dark when they have all gone inside.

That is the hard way do doing things I am sure. So I was going to make ma a plywood box with only a lid. The bottom perm attached and then put a plastic bee escape on all four sides. I am thinking I shake the bees in it and set back for an hour- others go in but they cant come back out of that escape. WHat do you guys think??

 

[baldwinbees]

not to steal the thread,but I'd like to explain to kyfarmer how we've been doing it.Take a 5gal bucket&cut out the center of the lid,leaving about 2" ring .Use 1/8" hardware cloth to cover this.cut about an 1 1/2" hole in center of screen.Make a funnel out of a piece of the screen&attatchto center hole.I make the funnel a little bigger than the hole,push it in as far as I can,then snip it &fold over.I use a piece of telephone wire to tie the funnel in place.Wrap the funnel on the part in the bucket with duct tape to give it a dark hole look.you can also take a long handled paint roller,cut off the roller part,slide the rod under the rim where the bucket handle is,attatch to bucket with electric conduit clamp&now you have a swarm catcher you can put extension poles on to reach 'up there'.place a small limb in the bucket to avoid crushing.after getting as many bees as possible,if you got the queen they will crawl in the funnel&the few that remain on the top fanning you can cover with a piece of sheet till you get them to their new home

 

[Buffalolick]

Cool idea baldwinbees! Thanks for sharing

 

[Jer733]

I have also used 1/4" hardware cloth over entrances.

Have 3/4" holes in some hives and a TBH and some others with normal entrances.

Exlcuder under hive bodies work well.

 

[johng]

I got my first one yesterday also. Sort of. They were under a hot tub and apparently had been there for a couple of days and it was really hard to get to them. I took off the sides and used a small box to knock them into and then dumped them in a 8 frame deep box. I don't think I got the queen so when I got home in the dark I took a frame out of one of my stronger hives and wouldn't you know 2 capped queen cells. So either way they will have a queen shortly. Now I'm stuck at work wondering if my hive will swarm before tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be able to do something with that hive. I was just in it a week ago and everything seemed fine. Now I think it is trying to swarm. Its really cool and windy today so hopefully they will wait until tomorrow.

 

[Chick]

There were a couple of small clusters that I looked over, but there was not a queen there. I did notice after putting the swarm in the nuc, that a couple of bees were fanning their phermone out, at the entrance, and I took that to mean that the queen was in the hive. ???