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Author Topic: I might get the prize!  (Read 7509 times)

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Offline tbonekel

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I might get the prize!
« on: September 26, 2014, 10:48:47 pm »
For the smallest swarm. I got a call from a friend of mine who works at Lowe's. He said the had a swarm in one of their trees in the nursery. I headed out there and saw that they had moved the tree outside the fence.  Sure enough, there was a swarm in it. Maybe 40 bees. I immediately saw the queen. Put her in a clip then in a nuc. I may give them some extra bees to play with along with a frame if honey. Interesting day.

 

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Offline Jen

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2014, 12:11:59 am »
Well Tbone!?!  That's just.. Cute   :D

    Best of luck with this tiny nursery of bees  :eusa_clap:  And thank goodness someone in the store didn't grab a can of insect spray. I think these sweethearts are meant to live  ;)
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Gypsi

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2014, 12:25:44 am »
My neighbor started his hive with a 3/4 cup swarm of my bees in fall a couple of years ago.  I gave them a couple of frames of brood and food and he fed them up pretty nicely
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Offline tbonekel

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2014, 08:43:35 am »
I actually have a hive that may be queenless. Two weeks ago, I inspected and they were pretty noisy and I took a few hits. Also I don't think I saw eggs and I spent some time in there. The queen shouldn't have stopped laying this early, in this part of the country I don't think. Anyway, I'm going to inspect again, and if there is no queen, I will put the one from this little swarm in there and consider it a gift from the heavenly Father.
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Offline tbonekel

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2014, 08:52:34 am »
One interesting thought I had about this experience is this. Normally, you want to place a swarm in a box and leave it at the location until dark, for all the foragers to return. Well, in this area, it really never gets dark because of all the lights from parking lots, buildings, etc... The bees are just bugs and they are drawn to the lights like other bugs. Could this had been a significantly larger swarm the day before, but lost most of the bees during the night? There is no brood to keep warm or no honey to protect, so I may have just caught the queen and her closest attendants.
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Gypsi

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2014, 09:12:03 am »
Newspaper combine her on.  I've got one queenless right now, already lost one purchased queen, they will combine with one of mine or next week's removal.
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Offline Jen

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2014, 12:22:09 pm »
Hey tbone... that is some serious good logic there, and a good question. I like reading your posts cause you and I are about the same in bee experience. So when we come up with a new piece to the puzzle, or good logic... Well, I'm just so proud of us  :D :occasion14:
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Online iddee

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2014, 12:47:53 pm »
I don't think it was a swarm, but rather an abscond. The last handful of bees left when there was nothing left to stay for.
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Offline Jen

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2014, 12:48:49 pm »
Interesting Iddee  :) So glad this little family found a home with tbone
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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2014, 10:41:52 pm »
I think Iddee got it..  THis time of the year and such a tiny cluster I'd bet on the abscond too..   Glad you got them and hopefully if you need that queen she will pull you out of a jam!
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Offline tbonekel

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #10 on: September 28, 2014, 01:00:36 pm »
Well, the hive I thought queenless, may or may not be. After inspecting, I found no eggs, but very young brood. The concerning discovery though is that I saw several queen/swarm cell, a few of which had royal jelly in them and one uncapped with larvae. They know something is wrong and they are trying to fix it. Problem is that it's probably too late for a queen to emerge and mate. I decided to leave them alone. I ended up taking a frame of honey and a frame of brood and put them in the nuc with this tiny swarm. The queen is still in the clip. The tricky part is when to release her.
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Offline Jen

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #11 on: September 28, 2014, 02:07:11 pm »
 :thread: Interesting, listening closely to this thread
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Offline tbonekel

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #12 on: September 30, 2014, 09:02:41 pm »
Well, that turned out to be an unsuccessful venture. I thought that the entrance on the nuc was small enough for the bees to protect but apparently not. I checked on it today and they were robbed blind. Honey gone and a lot of the comb chewed. Lots of dead bees as well. The queen was still alive and in her clip. I decided to let her out to be with her subjects. She had other plans. Flew away immediately, and not seen again. Now all I have is a nuc with one frame of brood and a bunch of nurse bees. Bummer! I guess I will have to combine with another hive. Lesson learned......I think.
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Offline Jen

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #13 on: October 01, 2014, 12:53:08 am »
Ooooh Noooo!  Dang Tbone, that's a crappy thing to happen.
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Offline jayj200

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #14 on: November 02, 2014, 10:12:10 am »
It may be a surprise that you get as they more and more bees.
Africans make small swarms.
I would re-queen this bunch
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Offline barry42001

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #15 on: November 02, 2014, 10:27:04 pm »
Re-queen with what? Don't think you'll find many queens available time of year, chilling down a bit, shorter daylight hours, drones being expelled that would mean you couldn't even have them raise their own queen besides that this particular swarm/ cluster of bees is so small by the time the first of anything hatched out everybody that was there to begin with would have died with the exception of the Queen maybe! I mean it would be an interesting project to find a way to have it survive the winter best of luck no matter what you do.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2014, 10:29:04 pm by barry42001 »
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Gypsi

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Re: I might get the prize!
« Reply #16 on: November 04, 2014, 11:54:06 am »
Combine is best.
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