Swarms That Leave
I like to think that much doesn’t surprise me in beekeeping. I’ve been keeping bees for 11 years, made almost every mistake, and have battled diseases and parasites of honey bees my whole beekeeping career. The other day, however, I was shocked when a swarm I caught decided to leave.
I got the bees in Kernersville, NC after receiving a call from a concerned condominium resident. It was a rather large swarm and because of their location in a small tree, it was easily reached but still difficult. I worked a while, found the queen and got her in the swarm box, and managed to get almost all the bees. I brought the bees home the next morning and released them to work.
After allowing them several days to get settled, I decided to transfer the bees to the proper equipment. Because of the last minute nature of the swarm call, and my lack of preparation, I didn’t have the equipment I wanted at the time.
I shook the bees into the new equipment and they marched in.
More than a day later, the bees left without warning. In a dramatic fashion, they landed in a maple tree and headed for the nearby woods. I looked into the hive, and they had constructed a good deal of comb and had started to store pollen and nectar.
I’ll give the bees the benefit of the doubt: I probably could have had the proper equipment ready and put them in it to begin with, captured the queen and put her in a queen cage to keep her from attempting to fly, or any number of other things, but from experience I didn’t find it necessary, and I was wrong.
I hope the bees found what they’re looking for. Adios!
June 19, 2008 • Beekeeping
2 Comments
Thanks for such a great site. It has been bookmarked I have found some great info here, Any recomendations on further reading?
beekeeping on October 30, 2009 at 8:21 am
Next time, try feeding them after you’ve hived them. This year I lost several swarms during a dearth, and I strongly suspect it was due to a lack of available nectar. Feeding right in the new hive is supposed to prevent early absconding like you (and I) saw.
Good luck!
-Pete
Pete Chrisbacher on December 9, 2009 at 9:51 pm