[junglebee]

Yesterday I captured my second swarm in a cardboard box. It was close to dark so I let them in the box till 5oam then removed them into a 10 frame deep. There were a lot of bees but only 3 small new white combs, no brood or any other capped cells.I got almost all of the bees in and rubber banded the comb to empty frames in the center of the new hive, with foundation frames to fill out the rest on each side. I went back to feed them half an hour later and they have bearded on the outside top cover. They look like there getting ready to leave. Should I try to but them back in or wait till they do what they do. I am pretty sure i got the queen in the hive but the lack of brood makes me think she is a virgin and they are bearding in prep for mating. Is this possible? please help as whatever is going on there i think will happen soon.

 

[mike haney]

1."Should I try to but them back in"
yes
2."bearding in prep for mating. Is this possible.."
they dont normally beard for mating.
3."...lack of brood..."
it takes time to create comb, they dont bring it with them. the queen can only lay in comb, and the egg requires time to be ready to be capped.
i would sugest you feed them and hope for the best. good luck,mike

 

[junglebee]

Thanks mike,

I brushed a football sized beard into a pail and put them back in the hive.
I added a entrance queen excluder, hope shes in there,

They seem mildly agitated after being sevrely molested the last two days but are eating well. Time will tell. Thanks again.

 

[mike haney]

if the queen is newly mated she'll go right through an excluder- if they want to leave. new queens are quite slim. older queens also are slimmed down in prep for swarming, so some can and do get through excluders, so dont be disapointed if they leave (ungrateful SOB's ). that said, i've never had a swarm take syrup and then leave. try to not check on them (except the feeder) for a couple weeks. good luck,mike