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Author Topic: question for jp or any other swarm chasers  (Read 4029 times)

Offline wadehump

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question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« on: May 05, 2011, 10:11:30 pm »
Okay heres the deal bro in law stops :roll: by and says do you want a swarm of bees. I gave him the does a bear sh*t in the woods look.So he tells me THEY are in a maple tree across the street from his house and he say's there are 2 balls of bees one is large and the other is about half the size so i load up a ten frame and a 5 frame deep and get there and he is right there are 2 swarms clustered about 7-8 feet apart i can see where they came from knot hole about 25 feet away bees coming and going hard still very active . SO here is my question could this be 1 huge swarm or 2 seperate swarms i hived them as 2 and saw the queen in the smaller one she was very runny and i had to catch her by hand 3 times and put her in the box  i finaly got them to all go in the other bigger swarm went right in no problems and clustered up . could this be a mother daughter overwinter swarm OR could it be a primary swarm and a virgin that just hatched the reason i ask this is we have had rain and cold damp weather for the last month and monday and today have been the only good sunny flying days and forcast is calling for rain off on for the next sevin days

Offline Kathyp

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2011, 10:30:00 pm »
i'd guess two swarms.  i would have done as you did.    virgin queens tend to be runny.  did she seem pretty small?  i'd check the one that you didn't see the queen in, tomorrow.  most of the time i leave a swarm alone, but if this was one swarm that broke apart, you'll want to get them back together.

sometimes if i find one clump below another, it's because part of the swarm broke loose and fell.  it just reformed on a lower branch.  at any rate, unless you can spot two queens as you hive them, you'll need to recheck.
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Offline wadehump

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2011, 10:48:46 pm »
Yes she did appear to bee small and very dark i tend to think this is 2 swarms for the reason that the first 1 that was hived marched right in and clustered i plan on a look friday if the rain will hold off. thanks for the reply and good advice.

Offline iddee

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2011, 11:08:47 pm »
Place the two hives a few feet apart. If two swarms, they will remain apart. If only one swarm, they will combine on their own.
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Offline wadehump

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2011, 11:14:14 pm »
They are next to each other about 1-2 feet hoping for the best thanks iddee

Offline joebrown

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2011, 11:23:53 pm »
I agree with the other posts. If they do not combine on their own in a couple of days I would check for both queens and check the brood pattern. You want to make sure she  or they are good laying queens as well!

Offline JP

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2011, 11:54:07 pm »
Place the two hives a few feet apart. If two swarms, they will remain apart. If only one swarm, they will combine on their own.

My sentiments exactly.


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Offline wadehump

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #7 on: May 08, 2011, 08:10:50 pm »
ok heres an update 2 queens comb being drawn both hives pollen, syurp being stored but still no eggs in both hives

Offline iddee

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #8 on: May 08, 2011, 09:15:47 pm »
Three days? If there are eggs, there's likely only a few. You would have to have some very good eyesight to confirm that. I never disturb a swarm for 7 days or more. Too much chance of causing them to abscond.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

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Offline wadehump

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #9 on: May 12, 2011, 10:21:39 pm »
UPDATE Ihave eggs in all three of the swarms i caught last week. also have 2 queen cells in a split that should hatch fri,sat i also have a trap out that should be having cells hatch at the same time :-D

Offline iddee

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #10 on: May 12, 2011, 11:01:41 pm »
Patience does have it's virtues, doesn't it? :D
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

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Offline joebrown

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #11 on: May 12, 2011, 11:28:09 pm »
Speaking of trap outs! I have never done one but I am about to attempt one! I have read a little about doing them and I bought a video from Brushy Mountain about bee lining and trap outs. However, the video was old. I get the basic idea and theory. The trap out is in a big maple tree. The bees started out with a hole about 10' up and now have moved to a hole about 20 or so feet up the tree. They have been there for several years. I know I will have to seal the lower hole, but I was wondering! How do you typically go about performing your trap outs? Any hints or certain techniques you guys find helpful!

Offline iddee

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #12 on: May 12, 2011, 11:36:53 pm »
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline wadehump

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #13 on: May 12, 2011, 11:40:24 pm »
as you can see by update post it is about 1 hour later 10:36 pm and i have just got back from catching a swarm at a bob evans resturant. east catch no ladders , no 30 feet in the air right there for a short 5'2 fat man to catch only hitch is a thunder storm moving in not what we need is more rain :shock:

Offline wadehump

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #14 on: May 12, 2011, 11:43:37 pm »
watch the video huge help believe what iddee says about trap outs :camp:

Offline joebrown

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Re: question for jp or any other swarm chasers
« Reply #15 on: May 13, 2011, 02:51:44 am »
Thanks! I will check that out. I read the series of post. Most of it I knew, but I did learn a few new things!