It happens quite often. It's always a good idea to at least listen to the side of the box, especially if it feels light, for a hum from the bees inside. Some people put a queen excluder under the box or a piece of excluder on the front of the hive once they think the queen is inside (they remove the excluder about a week later. By then the bees have usually drawn comb and the queen started to lay, assuming she's not a virgin). I've had it happen to me, check the hive before moving to its permanent location and "Boy, this hive really is light!"

 

I thought about using a queen excluder today also, but I wasn't sure if it's a common use. I know now that it will be on the next time. I was sure the queen was inside when the bunch on the ground in front of the box all made a mad dash for the entrance.

Now that we've thought about the weight of the hive, my daughter & I both think it was too light for the wad of bees that had entered earlier.

Anyway, thanks for the replies. It was a great practice run, and I know we can do again if the opportunity comes along. :thumbsup:

 

LOL....thanks for posting! I know it was a downer but I have not experienced that yet and I'm sure I will. Now I won't feel like I'm the only one! One thing I have been having the kids use that would be good for this situation is a stethoscope from the auto parts store. It has a long metal rod on the end and you can put it against the hive to listen to the buzzing. Works great!

 

Sorry about the roller coaster ride you went on. What probably happened is the scout bees, that were out looking for a new home, came back a little after 1:30 and informed the rest of the colony were the new home was, and that's where they probably are right now. Hopefully you catch another swarm soon, and they stay this time. I'm sure it was a fun experience anyways.

 

I put the excluder under the bottom box after hiving a swarm, and a cutout. I haven't lost one yet, but I'm sure one day I'll catch a virgin queen and wish I hadn't put the excluder. I leave it just a couple of weeks, till brood gets going in the hive.
You might want to put a trap at the place you caught that swarm, and maybe you'll catch a secondary swarm.

 

The EXACT same thing happened to me this week! The bees were in a bush close to the ground, and I put the box next to them and they seemed to start going in. It was getting dark, so I came back after work the next day, and the woman whose backyard the bees were in said she thought they were in the box, and I saw a few flying in. I put a screen on the opening and took it home. When I took the screen off expecting them to come flying out all mad that I took them for a ride in the back of a truck, only a few bees came out. So I opened it and looked inside to see my six little bees on the brood comb I had in there. Very disappointing! I guess they just changed their mind and left.

 

It happens to all of us at one point. That's where experience comes into play. Take a moment to pop the top and check. The bees won't care. Better luck next time.

 

Now you know why most of us won't waste much time or gas chasing swarms. They are always an iffy proposition.

 

I often wonder also if there were scout bees that already determined a different location before they were hived. I had that happen once and the hive was in the area of the swarm found, which makes me wonder also if it's a good idea to move the hived swarm several miles away from the immediate location where the swarm was found, at least for a few weeks. Anyone with thoughts on that?

 

makes me wonder also if it's a good idea to move the hived swarm several miles away from the immediate location where the swarm was found, at least for a few weeks. Anyone with thoughts on that?

I think that would work, but it might be easier to put a queen excluder at the entrance or under the hive body for a few weeks, instead of moving the whole hive.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience Tim. We've not heard of any swarms in my neck of the woods yet.

I've only retrieved 2 swarms. One was my own that I was fortunate enough to find and rehive, and the second was a late swarm that a neighbor asked me to get. The late swarm (September) was a mess that I wish I had never seen. I fed them trying to help them build which set off robbing in my little hobby yard that really never stopped until the swarm was lost. I admire swarm hunters, but it sure can be a mess.

 

Space, heat, and light are the keys I've found to keeping swarms. I've gone the last three seasons without losing a swarm and have caught about 40.

Here is my recipe on how to get new swarms to stay put:

Give them one more box then you think they need, especially big swarms
previously used boxes
2 or 3 drops lemon grass oil (don't over do)
mostly foundationless frames with just two or 3 frames of drawn comb per box to act as guides. Swarms love to festoon and you want to give them that room
Afternoon Shade, if it's too hot in the box, or you have bright sunshine shining in the entrance they won't stay
Solid bottom board
Wide open entrances
No plastic frames or foundation
Move them only after dark their first or second evening to their permanent location and don't put them too close to other hives
Leave primary swarms alone for at least a week, secondary swarms 3 weeks

Good luck. ....Don

 

Good info. I would like to hear more from others who keep swarms regularly.

 

The only swarm I have "lost" was my first hive. It was a swarm that I caught and moved from a friends apiary 10 miles from here. I brought it home and they left again the next day. The clustered in a brush pile a ways from the hive. I put them in a new box the 2nd time and they stayed.

I haven't caught more than 10 more since then and I have not lost another one. I read somewhere, probably on beesource that a frame of open brood would lock a swarm down. That's true in my limited experience. I haven't lost another one. I did learn last year to shake or brush ALL bees off the frame before putting it in with the hived swarm. Apparently swarming bees are very defensive. I put open brood with nurse bees on the frames in with newly hived swarms last year and both times there were many 100's of dead bees outside the entrance the next morning.

 

I think at one time or another, all beekeepers have had this happen. My guess would be be between the time they went into the hive, quite a few scouts had come back from hunting their prime site and told everybody "We found our new home, lets go."

I've also captured a swarm and brought it home miles from where I captured it, only to check the next day after getting home from work - and the hive is empty - they had absconded!

It helps to have used equipment - used equipment has that "lived in smell" scent - not fresh wood - but if you are a beginner or out of used equipment, you don't have much choice.
If you have other bees, take out a frame that has larva in it - and put it in the swarm hive - bees won't leave "their" brood.