My sister installed a package. Four Days later they swarmed. They had even began to draw out comb . She caught them and put them back in a box. I said seal them up for a couple days and feed them. Was I correct? I had never heard of such a thing. I said maybe the Queen wasn't mated. Maybe these package of bees had been shuck out of a hive that was in the process of swarming. Any opinions?
New package swarmed
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When you say "swarm" did they leave part of the colony in the hive but the rest took off with the queen? I suspect they more likely absconded which sometimes happens with new packages for a variety of reasons. For some packages that I am installing tomorrow, I have placed #5 hardware over the entrances for a few days which should keep the queen in the hive until they have settled in their new home a bit to prevent them from absconding.
She said there were probably 10 bees left in the hive.
No she has a solid bottom board.
Hmmm so they decided to "move"
could be smells, new paint , spilled fuel
vibration, next to a train track or something.
Hard to guess for some reason they did not like the hive/spot, sometime it happens.
GG
could be smells, new paint , spilled fuel
vibration, next to a train track or something.
Hard to guess for some reason they did not like the hive/spot, sometime it happens.
GG
I would feed them heavily and keep them sealed in for a couple days. Other option is if you have a queen excluder put it on the bottom of the brood box between it and the bottom board. That will seal the queen in the hive but allow the chargers out. If it was me I would do both those things. Seal them for 48hr with heavy feeding and the queen excluder in place. Open them up and leave excluded on until they are established (drawn combs with a variety of different aged brood. Capped, larva, and eggs). Good luck
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Our bee club bought 120 packages 3 years ago and had a fifth of them to abscond. We changed to a different supplier the last 2 years and have had very few absconds. Our thoughts are that there were virgins in the packages, or several virgins.
Packages absconding was a problem from the beginning of the package bee industry. The old issues of Gleanings in Bee Culture contains letters from beekeepers complaining of this problem as well as the problem of queen supersedure.
Packages absconding was a problem from the beginning of the package bee industry. The old issues of Gleanings in Bee Culture contains letters from beekeepers complaining of this problem as well as the problem of queen supersedure.
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