Whoopie! Just caught our very first swarm!

[soarwitheagles]

Hi all!

It is the season of miracles!

We did some reading, built a swarm trap, installed some frames with old black comb, rubbed some lure fluid on the inside 3-4 days ago, mounted in about 10 ft. up in a eucalyptus tree, and then....yeah team: arrived home yesterday to a marvelous surprise: our very first swarm! Appears kinda small compared to some of the swarms I have seen on Youtube, but we are super happy just to have caught our very first swarm.

We have named our first swarm: Sweet Success!

What next? I have no clue!

Does anyone have any ideas, advice, or suggestions?

Posting pics.

Enjoy!

 

[Mini Horses]

So -- I'm not truly experienced but, had a hive a few yrs back & it did swarm. The beekeeper who came to collect put out a box with comb as you, they went to it & then inside. He collected at night.

With that in mind, I'd say....when they go in, plug opening, lower and place where you want the hive. Of course, we have a good number of bee people on here and they can be very specific about the procedure. Have no clue a to queen status, if in swarm or what but will be interested to know.

Congrats! Where'd you get the lure fluid?

 

[soarwitheagles]

So -- I'm not truly experienced but, had a hive a few yrs back & it did swarm. The beekeeper who came to collect put out a box with comb as you, they went to it & then inside. He collected at night.

With that in mind, I'd say....when they go in, plug opening, lower and place where you want the hive. Of course, we have a good number of bee people on here and they can be very specific about the procedure. Have no clue a to queen status, if in swarm or what but will be interested to know.

Congrats! Where'd you get the lure fluid?

Hi Mini Horses!

Thank you for your congrats!

I have been reading different bee forums this morning and there appears to be a consensus that the bees should be moved either immediately or after waiting 4-5 days. Hmmmmmm...not sure which way to go on this. I think the scout bees could have simply guided the bees to land in the swarm box in the tree on a temporary basis...and if this is true, then they may swarm [move to a new location] again. To be honest with you, I have no clue what I am doing!

I would like to catch lots of swarms. We live surrounded by large Eucalyptus forests and I believe there are lots of ferel bee hives nearby. I would like to catch 5-10 swarms if possible. Hopefully I am not in dream land...

I picked up the lure fluid on Ebay. They sold me super tiny vials [1 ml] and I rubbed only a half of a vial inside the bee box. It sure worked well, because within 2 days I started seeing bees visiting the box, then two days later this swarm landed.

So that is a little info on how this happened!

I do have a wonderful story about how we became involved in keeping bees....

Awhile back my wife and I read about Bee Colony Collapse. It really concerned us. Some states in the USA lost over half their bee colonies in a one year period. We live on a ranch/farm and grow fruit and veggies. I was thinking no bees, no pollination. That seems very serious.

So we prayed a simple prayer, asking the Lord if we should try our hand at beekeeping...

5 days later, a swarm landed 50 ft. away on a tiny tree next to our house. We interpreted this as an answer to our prayer...that the Lord was saying yes, I would like you to try your hand at beekeeping. So we purchased a beehive box and equipment and the rest is history.

Two weeks ago we did a lot of splits because we have hives that are growing so rapidly that they were filling an entire box in days. After adding box upon box, we realized it was time to split. We have queens that never stopped laying eggs in the winter and presently they are laying 2000+ new eggs per day. I suppose you can call us blessed!

So we have rapidly grown from one hive to six hives. Within the next few months, I think we will be up to 10-20 hives.

So now we are busy bees too.

Have a wonderful day!

 

[Mini Horses]

That's Devine Intervention! Now you are off and growing.

My own hive bought as my dtr had one and wanted another. I bought hive, bee nuc, etc. (She was to tend, then got preggo and decided to stop bees ) At my farm the hive did well and grew to the point that it swarmed. (hers died). I called a local beekeeper who collected the swarm. He helped with my hive, then I gave it to him.......and he brought me honey.

I have wanted to go back to it but have too many other things to feel I can manage that also, thus no hive. Pollination is my reason as I use very little honey. Yeah, could sell but -- more work.

Stay busy.

 

[Latestarter]

Congrats! He has provided for you

Let them settle in for a day, or two at most... The reason I say this is because the box is NOT level and if they decide to stay, they are going to start building comb like mad (gotta build when in a new home). Because the box isn't level, the comb is going to be one heck of a mess to work with if you let them get it established at that angle. They always build comb vertically so if the box is at a 20 degree angle, when you take it down and set it level, the comb will be at a 20 degree angle in the opposite direction. and the bees will then start building comb at the new level and you'll have burr comb from hell.

Wait till after dark when the bees have settled down in the box. Plug ALL entrance/exits so they don't attack you while moving the box. Take it down (need I say "gently"?) and place it where you want the new hive to be. wait a couple hours for them to settle back down from being moved then unplug the entrance/exits. Check them the next morning and you should see them doing their orientation flights.

You done good!

 

[soarwitheagles]

Thank you Mini Horses and Late Starter!

Wow, I never realized the box must be vertical! In the future, I will do my very best to mount the trap so it is perfectly horizontal and vertical on the tree!

I am planning on making 5 or more swarm traps in the near future [hope to make two today] because I am being told now is the swarm season!

Will try what you said and give a report back soon.

Thanks again!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Great catch! I've yet to catch a swarm, so I shouldn't give advise on that, but my gut says wait a couple of days. Right now, it looks like they are resting on it and haven't decided fully to call it home yet. So I'd give them the time to "move in".

 

[soarwitheagles]

Thanks everyone! A good friend and master beekeeper came over unexpectedly this afternoon. We took the hive trap down from the tree in the rain. Due to the rain, 95% or more of the bees were in the box.

Next, we transferred the box to my apiary. Inside we discovered a virgin queen. Master beek said she will probably go out and mate later in the week, once the rain stops.

While he was over, we spent 3 hours opening all the other hives. All is well except one new split where we couldn't find the queen.

Will look again next week.

Now I must build a second ant-proof beehive stand because the bees are multiplying so rapidly. This will be my project today and tonight.

I am attaching some pics of the first ant-proof beehive stand I built late last year. They work well.

Using inverted PVC caps filled with high temp. lube. Not even one ant has been able to enter the hives after building this. Sweet success again!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Soar

 

[Ferguson K]

Congratulations! !!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Cool stand! Great job getting the swarm moved too!