[raosmun]

Got a 2+ pound swarm yesterday afternoon. Gathered them a 5 gal. bucket and put them in a long medium then put in the frames removed for dumping in the gals (Frameless - Drawn comb - F -D - F - D - then all F) & put an entrance feeder on. By the time I got done they were flying all over the place up to 20' away or so, were coming out of the bottom entrance, bearding all over the front and sides, after about an hour they started to go back into the hive. Checked about 06:00 this AM and they are all inside with a lot of buzzing. O this swarm was gathered about 6 miles away.
Any opinions :s

 

[devdog108]

are you sure you got the queen? Had a swarm do that and I had missed the queen somehow!

 

[jhs494]

We just got a swarm on Mothers day that acted just like that. We had placed the nuc right by where we had found them. They all were inside the night before and, the next day they were nasty. Head butting 20' away. I found the queen in a ball of bees on the ground dead, about a foot behind the hive. She didn't make it into the hive the night before. She had a tattered wing. Very sad, when you picked her up all her attendants would land on your hand and surround her facing her.
I placed some of the Pseudo queen lure into the hive until I could get a queen. It was amazing they settled right down and went inside.
I get to check today to see if they released the new queen.

 

[naturebee]

When you see bees streaking above when hiving
a swarm, that usually indicates confusion, the queen
was missed, or the bees are looking for the queen.

That the bees went inside, and are humming, are
good signs, and suggest to me that the queen is
inside the hive.

You do not mention using a queen excluder to
keep the queen in the hive. If you do not have
an excluder on the hive, my advice would be to
get one on ASAP. Swarms are known to change
their minds in the first few days after hiveing,
and leave. I generally remove the excluder after
4 days or so.

Joe
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/

 

[KQ6AR]

Question,
I've heard swarm queens can go through excludes, because they are thin for the swarming. If true a push in cage might be a better option.

Anyone know if its true?

 

[raosmun]

Thanks for the replys.
After things calmed down, I hung the bucket on a branch and many of the still flying bees went in and settled down, so I assume she was in the bucket.
To add to my confusion: When I checked and reduced the entrance about 06:00 yesterday and heard a lot of buzzing, checked again about 08:30 they had calmed down (the buzzing) and some were flying about. Now about 30' away I have a bait hive setup and noticed a few bees flying in and out, did not think much of it untill about 10:00 when the entrance and landing board were covered with bees and they continued to move in. Put on an entrance feeder and reduced the opening. Now I have a hived swarm in a long TBH and one in a medium bait box. So :s one of my other hives swarmed (haven,t noticed any swarm activity), or a swarm came in from elsewere, or :s it possible I got 2 queens with the swarm and one split, going to the bait box? I think this because when gathering the swarm there were two balls of bees, althought very colose together. :scratch:

 

[franktrujillo]

first swarm from hive..noticed mass exodus from hive swarm landed on tree,placed swarm in new box, bees returned to tree three times. bees stayed over night buzzing loudly next morning they flew back to the same tree.bees in origanal hive still swarmmy opened hive no eggs many swarm cells.bees gathered around cells first frame queen cell open next frame over 2 queen cells unopened figured the queen that hatched first killed them both next frame over no cells....bees still swarmmy next frame over queen cell bees guarding cell removed frame placed in nuc some bees followed.bees still swarmmy couldn't believe how much bees there was.the other nuc bees flying back on tree next. frame another queen cell guarded by bees as well.removed frame placed it in the other nuc after 5 min bees returned to nucs.bees all calmed down...will the bees be calm if all is well queen inside and upset if no queen is available?in a queenless hive do the get hot..

 

[CovertBeekInColleyville]

Got a 2+ pound swarm yesterday afternoon. Gathered them a 5 gal. bucket and put them in a long medium then put in the frames removed for dumping in the gals (Frameless - Drawn comb - F -D - F - D - then all F) & put an entrance feeder on. By the time I got done they were flying all over the place up to 20' away or so, were coming out of the bottom entrance, bearding all over the front and sides, after about an hour they started to go back into the hive. Checked about 06:00 this AM and they are all inside with a lot of buzzing. O this swarm was gathered about 6 miles away.
Any opinions :s

I have picked up seven swarms this year and they all did exactly what you described. I stapled queen excluders over the entrance to attempt to keep the queen in. The bees always came back so I assumed the queen couldn't get out. I later checked and two of the swarms were queen-less. I just guessed the bees were "swarmy" and needed some time to get it out of their heads. :scratch:
I even added a frame of brood to one box before dumping them in. They did the same thing.

 

[bigbore]

picked up 5 so far this year, 2 queenless, 1 ok, 2 unknown as of this time. I feel for you, but I am in the same boat.

 

[naturebee]

Question,
I've heard swarm queens can go through excludes, because they are thin for the swarming. If true a push in cage might be a better option.

Anyone know if its true?

Not true,
The width of the thorax is what restricts the
queen from passing through excluders.
The thorax exoskeleton is hard and will not
shrink or enlarge when queens loose or gain weight.

It is not necessary for a queen to be thin to swarm.
Anyone who has shaken a colony out onto foundation
as a means of eliminating foulbrood, and neglected
to use an excluder may find that fat laying queen
can swarm off, just the same.

Best Wishes,
Joe
-An army of bees are said to have
swarmed into a church, in Gloucester,
Mass., last Sunday, during divine service,
but retreated when the sexton
shook the contribution-box at them. -1870
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/