[juzzerbee]

After a swarm has been trapped, is there any needed waiting time to close it up and take it to my beeyard? I hear it should be done at night, to ensure all bees made it back.
How long after the capture is the best time to transfer it into their new hive in my beeyard?
Does the number of deeps used for the hive depend on how big the swarm is, or do most of you just transfer into the equivalent of a single deep?
Feed and plug the entrances for an amount of time too, to get them settled in.
Sorry for all the questions, just want to have a plan in mind in and when. Thanks, juzzer

 

[JakeDatc]

go for it that evening.. get the disruption out of the way all at once.

no need to plug the entrance.. they will be inside for the night and orient in the morning. plus it lets any in that didn't get in when you shake them from the trap. If your trap is within a mile or 2 of the new location then stick a small branch in front of the entrance so they have to bump around it to get out and they will have to reorient.

size is swarm dependent. if it was really small you could do a nuc or medium.

 

[drlonzo]

It actually all depends on the conditions in which you have present. For instance is it a TBH swarm trap, Lang swarm trap, or just a pot style swarm trap?
How far from trap to your apiary location? More then 2 miles makes it simple for re-orientation, if less you have to make them realize something is diff about location like putting a branch in front of the entrance. Then they re-orient and all is well.
Moving the hive at night is the right thing to do. It can be done within a few days of capture. Make sure to place it where the hive will be put permanently. That way you don't have to deal with allowing them to re-orient again.
With a TBH you need to allow them time to draw comb and get some brood in them prior to transfer to the main hive.
With a Lang using frames the queen will normally start laying pretty quick if you had old comb frames in it, if not wait a while for them to draw wax and lay. Give them at least a week.
With a Pot style trap, the longer you wait the more work you will have as you will have to do a cut out to remove their brood comb and put into another hive.

The number of deeps does depend upon how many bees was in the swarm. If they could all fit inside of the trap and it was a NUC style trap, one deep is plenty. If you were using an old deep and they were bunches on the outside of it, it calls for 2 deeps.

Feed your bees 1:1 at least for the first week or two if you are using foundation only. Let them have what they can use. If using old frames with comb in place, feed for about a week and be done.

 

[JakeDatc]

" With a TBH you need to allow them time to draw comb and get some brood in them prior to transfer to the main hive."

why? naturally, a swarm takes off, goes to an empty hole and starts building. They are all filled up with honey in preparation to build comb.

people shake packages into TBH all the time with no problems.

 

[ikswokjag]

I waited 2 days and the swarm absconded a few days after the transfer. My guess is that I under fed and failed to use an entrance reducer to discourage robbing. Plus, the sudden change up might have freaked them out a bit. I have since caught another swarm. I did the transfer immediately, feed regularly, and am using a reducer. They are going through a gallon of 1:1 daily. I hope this helps. Mine were not traps, though. They were typical swarm removals. Anyone know when I should remove the entrance reducer or how long I should wait before doing an inspection?

 

[jwcarlson]

" With a TBH you need to allow them time to draw comb and get some brood in them prior to transfer to the main hive."

why? naturally, a swarm takes off, goes to an empty hole and starts building. They are all filled up with honey in preparation to build comb.

people shake packages into TBH all the time with no problems.

A swarm isn't a package. It's more of a "unit" with less confusion and "I'm just glad to be alive" vs. a package of shaken "I'm just happy to be alive" bees.

I have little experience here, but I have some TBH swarm traps and if anything inhabits them, I'm planning on letting them build for a week or so. Since they're the same size bars and hive configuration as my main TBHs, it makes installation very much easier that way. And one less time moving them without brood to help anchor.