[John Scifres]

My first hive from last year swarmed last weekend. I caught the swarm and it seems to be doing well.

I left 4-5 swarm cells in the original hive to make a new queen. It is still very busy.

What are the chances of a surplus of honey to harvest from the original hive? What about the swarm?

Thanks for your comments on your experiences!

 

[dfortune]

Expect some, but plan for none.

Really though it depends on where you live. Do you have a good fall flow?

 

[beepro]

Sorry to say that you might not have any honey this year if
there are still 5 swarm cells in the original colony. Have you
ever heard of after swarm?
I would just reduce them to only 2 of the largest cells in the
original hive hoping that they will not swarm again. Maybe you
are lucky to catch them again.
The swarm will continue to build up and continue into next year if they over
winter well.

 

[John Scifres]

Thanks dfortune and beepro for your response.

dfortune, I'm not sure on a fall flow here in Central IN. I am sure we have one but I don't know how strong it is.

beepro, yes I am a bit concerned about after swarms. I was not sure how to judge the best cells so left myself some cushion, understanding the risks.

Is there any reason to go in and check things out this evening? It has been 9 days since the swarm so I suppose I should know really soon whether an after swarm has happened.

I was inclined to just let them work it out but I am probably not going to be able to do much with them for the next few days after today.

 

[Mike Gillmore]

If it's been 9 days since the primary swarm my guess is that any afterswarms have already happened. Take another look and see if there are any capped cells left. They've probably already worked it out. Hopefully the first virgin queen took out the rest and you didn't lose any more bees.

 

[beepro]

Instead of guessing what is going on inside the hive, now is the time to do a hive check.
If the queens take 16 days to hatch then there is still time for some unhatch queen cells in
there. What if the virgin did not tear down these cells? Will the virgin tear down a developing
larva if she hatched 9 days ago? Go check it out for further assessment.
You may be surprise that viable cells are still in there. If not then you might have a virgin in there somewhere.
You can take 3 cells to make a small nuc then your concern of an after swarm is lessen somewhat. Then after
the virgin got mated you can still put her back to the original hive if it end up queen less. If not then you have another
small nuc of bees to tend to. Beekeeping is flexible not a one way street.

 

[John Scifres]

OK, I will go in tomorrow. Thanks again to everyone for all the advice.

 

[John Scifres]

Well I was 30 minutes late I got home from work and looked out at the hive and literally saw the storm begin. They lit in my neighbor's tree and I as able to reach them but must have missed the queen as I clumsily cut the branch 20 feet off the ground. They are now 5 feet higher in a much sturdier branch. Not a big swarm but I hate to lose it. I'm still formulating a plan to see if I can get it.

I went into the hive and found 6 queen cells. 2 had hatched, 1 was real close and I lost her as I pulled the cell off. 1 was really small but viable. 1 was maybe halfway done and the final 1 was just goo.

I heard the queen piping, which is a very cool sound BTW. I couldn't tell for sure but there may have been an answer so I might have 2 queens in there. I left the frames alone where I definitely heard the one but looked over the other ones really good and didn't see a queen. But I understand they are tough to see.

At any rate, it was a disappointing but instructive day in the bee world here at the Scifres' house.

 

[John Scifres]

My second feeble attempt at catching this bunch was futile. They have now left me forever I sure am learning a lot! Ouch. Learning hurts!