Completely screwed up swarm caputre/split

[kalium]

So there's a bit of a mini spring that's happened around here lately. Lots of rain and bloomage with some really good weather.

I went down and checked on my one and only hive (which I recently added an ideal super to).  There were bees in the air everywhere, and a cluster of them forming on the underside of the hive and the hive stand. It didn't look like the late afternoon bearding that I've seen, I'm pretty sure it was a small swarm.

So, I grabbed a 5 frame nuc box and started to sweep them in. I got most of them, and I *think* I got the queen (I saw a clustering ball down the bottom
and I assume they were clustering over the queen.

There really didn't look to be that many bees though. So I kinda panicked and grabbed a few frames from the the old hive and shoved them in (brood and honey),
moved the now two hives either side of the old hive (as if I was doing a split) and am hoping that everything just magically works out. Oh I also took the super off the old hive and they are back to a single deep.

What would be people's advice with what I should do now? I don't know what queens are where. Should I just wait a week, and give a queen to whichever hive doesn't have a laying queen?

Cheers.

[Anybrew2]

I would leave them alone for a few weeks. Then take a look see for eggs/brood etc.  Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.


Cheers
Steve.

[yantabulla]

Kalium,

It is hard to tell from your description.  Swarming is unlikely this time of year even for your area.

They are unlikely to swarm to the base of the hive they left.

I often get small swarms turn up to my apiary this time of year.  They are just a handful of bees with a queen and they are a pain in the arse.  I think they come out of feral hives in the area. I spray them with soapy water and kill them.

Have a look at the "swarm" tomorrow & let us know what you see.

You need to build up to more than one hive in the spring.  Two or three hives means you don't have to worry about those little surprises.

Yantabulla

[kalium]

Kalium,

It is hard to tell from your description.  Swarming is unlikely this time of year even for your area.

They are unlikely to swarm to the base of the hive they left.

Good to know. I thought that they will swarm to nearby objects (like a post a metre away or so), but yeah, wasn't really sure.

I often get small swarms turn up to my apiary this time of year.  They are just a handful of bees with a queen and they are a pain in the arse.

That's fascinating. Yeah it was just a couple of handful of bees with a queen by the looks.
Judging by the clustering behaviour that I saw in the new box, I definitely got the queen.
There were so many bees in the air, nothing I've seen around my hive before (and
there was no robbing going on).

Why do they show up at your apiary? Are they hoping someone will let them in?
I've never heard of this in anything I've ever read (swarms turning up at existing apiaries/hives)

  I think they come out of feral hives in the area. I spray them with soapy water and kill them.

I know of a couple of reasonable size (one 40+ hive, another 160+ hive) apiaries within a few kms as well.
Given that I'm  keen to expand my hive numbers, I'd much rather try and see if I can make a hive
out of those bees wherever they came from :)

Have a look at the "swarm" tomorrow & let us know what you see.

You need to build up to more than one hive in the spring.  Two or three hives means you don't have to worry about those little surprises.

Yantabulla

TBH I was hoping I could grow my hive numbers by swarm trapping + splitting in the spring.

[squidink]

Swarming is not impossible, out of my 100 odd hives i have had 4 small swarms from them in the last 2 weeks.
To get them powering along give them a 50/50 sugar syrup.

Ben

[yantabulla]

Kalium, 

Yes I do think that they are looking for a way into another hive.  I have seen a swarm fly into a queenless hive.  Otherwise they just seem to hang around until the elements beat them.

Bees attract bees.  So it is common for swarms to turn up at an apiary in my observation

Realistically it is difficult to get a swarm that size up & running without adding extra bees.  You could possible use the queen to start a Nuc from your other hive but there would be no guarantees of her quality however she may be OK if they came from a commercial apiary.

More trouble than they are worth.

Yanta

[kalium]

Interesting about them trying to get into other hives, and about bees attracting bees (I'm always learning).

I had completely forgotten that I took a very hurried photo of them before I swept them away http://imgur.com/xLqL2Zj

That's a 10 frame deep. Just out of shot to the left is the entrance. You can see where they are huddled right up and under that. I don't know
if its a co-incidence but thats where there is a ventilation slit in the hive...

Not in that photo is them forming a bit of a cluster on the other side as well.

Anyway, will leave them a few weeks and see what happens. No real skin of my nose if they don't make it.

[kalium]

So I took AnyBrew2's recommendation of 3 three weeks and yantabulla's suggestion of 1 day and picked somewhere in the middle, 9 days!

They are in a box which is 5 frames but twice the height of a normal deep (so there is a big cavity below the frames). When I hived them I put a frame of capped brood and a frame of honey in. I now see capped brood, larvae and eggs. Not sure if that means they had a mated queen, or if a virgin could have mated and started laying in that short amount of time. The brood pattern is nice and tight, and they are even drawing out new comb on one of the empty frames. So all in all I'm pretty happy with my first swarm capture :)

The whether is still quite mild here (overnight temps around 13c) so I think I'll just leave them  for a few more weeks until it starts getting cold, then move them down into a proper sized 4/5 frame nuc which should help them over the colder months.

[Anybrew2]

Ha, that's great news. The Bee's know what their doing heaps more than we do.

Cheers
Steve