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Author Topic: how long does a swarm hang around??  (Read 4018 times)

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Offline mohawkny

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how long does a swarm hang around??
« on: May 11, 2015, 09:25:04 am »
how long would you say a swarm hangs around before they leave for their new home???
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Offline robo

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Re: how long does a swarm hang around??
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2015, 10:27:31 am »
10 minutes to forever.   It all depends on the weather and if they can find a suitable cavity to move into.

My experience has been that if they are there after 4PM they will remain until at least 10AM the next day.   All other bets are off......

A light mist by a hose will usually keep them in place
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Offline tefer2

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Re: how long does a swarm hang around??
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2015, 12:15:57 pm »
Wet bees can't fly very well. Carry a big spray bottle for the ones you can't hang around all day for.
Just don't use it when it's cold outside.
When I need to get out of there fast, I just fire up my Bushkill Robo vac. http://beevac.com/  :yes:
When it's raining, about the only time I can get there before they leave on me this year!
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Offline Jen

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Re: how long does a swarm hang around??
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2015, 12:49:23 pm »
10 minutes to forever :yah:

I like the misting thing to keep them in place, but if it's going to be a hot day those misted bee's won't be misty for long. I have heard that a light sugar mist will keep them longer due to the wings being sticky until the bees can groom each other.
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Offline iddee

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Re: how long does a swarm hang around??
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2015, 01:08:33 pm »
I would change that to 0 seconds to forever. We watched a swarm leave a hive last week, followed them for a quarter mile and lost them as they went over thick brush and out of sight. They knew where they were going when they left the hve.
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Offline Jen

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Re: how long does a swarm hang around??
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2015, 01:18:52 pm »
Agreed, last year, out of my 10 swarms, one of them hit the sky flew around for about 1 minute then zoomed over the horizon  :)
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