[Broglea]

Hi everyone. Second year beek here. No real emergency, but I would like to understand what is going on with my hive.

Two weeks ago to the day my hive swarmed. The two days later I went into the hive a saw queen cells everywhere. I destroyed all but three of them to reduce any after swarming. I haven't been in the hive since then. I was planning on doing an inspection next week to see if the newly emerged queen had mated and was laying. That brings me to today. THe dang hive swarmed again! I saw the bees hanging from a cedar tree. The good news is I was able to get them in a box.

So............was this an after swarm? What is my next step if any? I wouldn't think the queen in the swarm is mated yet. Looking forward to everyone's input. Thanks everyone.

 

[Colobee]

Yes, likely an after swarm - as you said - it already did it once. Size is a good indicator - primary swarms are usually monsters - 7-10 lbs & up. Afters are small - softball to soccer-ball sized. If it were me, I'd hive in in a single medium above a double screen over the parent. It will benefit from the parent warmth while the new virgin (?) gets mated. If the new queen mates & starts laying, you have the chioce of uniting it with the parent, & regaining some of what it lost, or setting it off as a split, or re-queening some other colony in need.

 

[Broglea]

Colobee - would have done anything different than I did after the initial swarm?

I'm just going to set it off as a split. I assume I should wait at least a few weeks to inspect?