[sunflower]

I would like to have some kind of idea of how far a swarm might travel when they initially decide to leave the hive? I have a lot to learn and need to know what I might be in for when I make mistakes in this adventure. Are they usually in a tree or just wherever they can find a resting place?

 

[concrete-bees]

they will travel anywhere from 10 feet to about 1 1/2 miles -

but the swarms that most people see , hanging on limbs, cars, walls, and fences etc... are just the resting swarm from the parent hive .... about 100-1000 feet

at this piont they check to see that they have the queen and enough workers to make the move - also at this point they are also sending out scout bees - this is where bait hives and boxes come in handy -



things i have found swarms on !!!!!

cars, farm tractor, porch light, tree limbs, the ground( someones clipped queen), large wooden spool of copper wire, fence posts, back side of the swarming hive, wood pile, mail box, and kids bicylce.

ive drove a lot a mile also to find that the swarm had left in the 10 minute drive time -

so i dont think you can make a mistake - its just a new learning expericance everytime you get a swarm

 

[markmaster]

Missed my first swarm this year....it was in a forsythia about 100 feet from the parent hive, only a couple of feet off the ground. Problem was that I happened to be teaching class at the time; by the time classes were over, the swarm had gone. Got some pretty heavy thickets along the creek, so I expect I'll find them in there somewhere.

The ones I captured last year were in the range of 10-15 feet off the ground, both in small fruit trees, so were easy to cut down and get into a box.