wow what a 2 week experience

[vvand111]

I will start by saying it would be best to try to understand my thinking by going down this thread and reading "swarm today"  and "swarm today!! "  If you are not confused by that then try to come back here and see what happens.

Swarm from # 1 hive was very strong population wise but I was concerned about me having caught the queen. I have waited some 20 days to see signs of a queen as far as eggs or larva and capped brood.  None showed yesterday under inspection so my plan was going to be to either re queen or to combine depending of what I saw in other hives.

Swarm from # 2 hive had a low population but it was only building out 3 frames in a 10 deep. I suspected the possibility of a queen but not sure on Friday. I found out today with a fair amount of larva. A little but the right sign.

I decided to combine these 2 hives newspaper style.

The new Nuc that I talked about earlier in either "swarm today" or "swarm !!" Swarmed again today. Brand new NUC. It did not come back this time.  Wife saw it and saw it settle in the same tree but I could not get home for several more hours and by then they were gone.
I went into the nuc that had been transferred into a 10 deep hive after the first swarm and I have 7 queen cells 3 capped and 4 uncapped. Some swarm and 2 supercedure.

My plan is to let them get there new queen and go from there.

I will watch the other hives to see how they move forward.

( my #1 and #2 hives are full of bees and continue to prosper. # 1 has tons of larva and capped brood as well as way too many bees.  I may have to split. # 2 is showing signs of good population and early queen development. Some larva but it looks like she is a few days behind #1.)

Wanted to share, sorry it is so hard to follow but I am learning and need any and all input from you folks.



 



 

[tedh]

Yeah boy, exciting stuff!  Here's my thoughts, for what it's worth.  It sounds like you started the season with two over wintered hives both of which swarmed, and that you captured both swarms.  One of the swarms had a good population but no queen while the other had a smaller population but did have a queen.  I believe combining the two was a good move.  I've been told that the queen will only lay what the colony (population) can take care of.  That being true, she will now have the bees necessary to ramp up her laying so you should be good there.  This is were I get confused.  Unless the above is incorrect.  In that case my confusion started long ago!

Did you purchase 1 or 2 nucs?  It sounds like 1 nuc swarmed and 1 nuc got moved into a 10 frame deep?  So, 2 nucs?

Let us forge ahead!  The nuc that swarmed today, does it contain queen cells?  The nuc you went into today, with the queen cells, have they swarmed or is the queen still in there?

Keep an eye on the two mature hives and pull a frame or two of brood if necessary to keep them from swarming again.
That's what I see through my limited experiance.  Good luck.  Ted

[vvand111]

Ted do I ever appreciate the response.  This has been so crazy for me.  I had 2 nucs.  Nuc # 1 I ended up combining With a portion of Hive # 2 swarm.  That hive is doing great.

Nuc # 2 swarmed on me before I could get it in a 10 frame deep. ( I think over crowded)  2.5 hours later it swarmed back to the nuc box that it came from. I then moved it into a 10 frame deep 7days ago.  It swarmed again today  back to the same tree but by the time I got home it was gone.

Now tonight I go out to check on things and it sounds like my # 2 hive is getting ready to swarm.. I need to go in early tomorrow to inspect.  I am leaning towards frame by frame inspection for queen and swarm cells and deciding what to do based from that.  I only have the one yard so moving is not an option right now.

I want to know the best practice in this situation to avoid another swarm?

[tedh]

Welcome to the club brother!  Intimidating and intense situations, counter intuitive solutions and a painful aggravating learning curve!  Makes a person long for that first year when all you had to do was feed and enjoy them.

The second year, in my opinion, is completely differant from the first year.  Last year the goal was to keep them alive and get them built up for winter.  Congratulations, by the way, you made it!  Good job!  The second year and from here on out it's about keeping them alive, SWARM CONTROL, and getting them built up for winter.  Look at it this way, you obviuosly have a good start on the info necessary to keep them alive and getting them through winter.  You, and I as well, have a LOT more to learn in those areas but we have the basics.  So, your hives swarmed, CONGRATULATIONS!   In the face of all the adversities, diseases, pests, pesticides, herbicides your bees not only survived they THRIVED!  I hope that makes you feel better.  That was the intent.

How many swarms have you caught this year?  I repeat, YOU CAUGHT. How cool is that?  You've had some success with that and you NOW know what to do when it doesn't succeed, you combine.  Again, GOOD JOB!  To answer your question about preventing swarms, I'm trying to get that right myself.  Here's what I'm trying, pulling a frame or two of brood to reduce population, making sure the queen has room to lay in (keep the brood chamber from getting plugged up with honey or honeybound).  I'll inspect once a week, pulling frames as needed and keep my fingers crossed.  Sorry brother, that's all I've got.  Ask me again next year and hopefully I'll have more to give.  I will say that I doubt there is a step by step, do this on March third, kind of thing, but if you run across one PM  me immediately!  Ted

[Wandering Man]

I've noticed that when it comes to splitting and swarming, things are never simple for the new beekeeper.  One disruption in the hive seems to lead to a month worth of Beek corrections, each one sending the bees off on a different track than what was intended.

I can't describe any of the events over the last three months in a sentence, a paragraph, or a page.  It takes a book!

Hang in there.  Let us know if the bees ever stop confusing you.  That will give hope to the rest of us newly arrived apiarists.

[Lburou]

... One disruption in the hive seems to lead to a month worth of Beek corrections, each one sending the bees off on a different track than what was intended...

When reading your words above, I couldn't help but think of my first days learning to hover a helicopter.  Early in the learning process, it takes a moment to recognize a movement over the ground, assess its direction and speed, then make a correction, hoping to stay over the same spot on the ground.  A VERY humbling process.

My first correction wasn't always the right correction.  And it was almost always more correction than was needed.  By 'over-controlling' inputs on the flight controls things could get out of control quickly.  The Instructor would take control and get things settled down again. 

Hovering a helicopter takes tiny, measured inputs to the pedals (controlling direction you are facing), the collective (controlling height above the ground), and the cyclic (controlling pitch and roll). One input affects ALL the other controls, so it is a continuous chase (like the keystone COPS) to hover over one spot without hitting something.

Successful beekeeping is accomplished by knowing what to do and when.  And when to do nothing.    Ideally, it takes only small actions by the beekeeper...at the right time...to keep the hive humming.  Do the wrong thing at a bad time and the hive needs to recover before it can prosper.  You put your finger on an important point wandering man. 

vvand111, I don't know how to keep bees from absconding.  Working with swarms is not always straight forward, there are always setbacks and uncertainties, join the club. 

[Barbarian]

Something to think about ---- vvand

You are having problems with swarms from your hives. Often a swarm wants to set up a new home away from the hive/apiary it comes from. You could approach a friend or neighbour about a quarter or half a mile from your apiary and ask permission to put a bait hive in their garden. If a swarm arrives the hosts will marvel at the sight. You can work out how to deal with it at a slower pace. Once the bait hive goes, I usually get a request to place another one straight away or the following season.

Another advantage relates to scout bees. You can get a call saying that scouts are inspecting the bait hive. Now is the time to check your hives to see if any are preparing to swarm.