Author Topic: Swarm story update-with pictures (Read 6070 times)

JP · « **on:** July 21, 2007, 12:59:00 pm »

Just wanted to share a lil story from yesterday, July 20, 07.
Got a call from the manager of a Piggly Wiggly (grocery store), said he had a swarm of bees on a shopping court, been there for two days. Went over and placed swarm trap atop a 5gallon bucket with pheremone vial, right beneath swarm. Swarm, size of a cabbage ball. Looked for queen but couldn't find one. Put bees in swarm trap with brood comb from another removal I did day before, and bees went in just fine. There were still some bees on cart so I misted a little bee-quick on the cart and moved the cart outta the way. All bees in trap for the most part now. Went inside store to wash hands, cause if not bee-quick in the eyes, not a good thing, came outside and my little audience was eager to tell me that the bees were now circling and for the most part outta the trap, they sure were. Well, shortly, some began to land on another cart approx. 4' away from the trap, and then...I observed a very small, thin queen. I guess this was an after swarm with a virgin queen. This is my guess. I have caught numerous swarms, but all the queens have been much larger than this one. Well, after I got lucky spotting her, I place her in trap inside of queen catcher, and within 10 minutes all the bees were inside. The grocery gave me a $35.00 store credit, which I used all but $7.00 of and then I was off to the beeyard. Hadn't been to that Piggly Wiggly since I was buying baby cereal for some feral piglets I caught yrs ago, but that is another story...

JP · « **Reply #1 on:** July 22, 2007, 01:44:34 pm »

Hey guys, got a call from someone I helped set up a hive that was in a gourd on his property, last week. Well, his father has a birthday coming up and they would like to set him up with a hive. I was thinking of selling him the swarm I caught, but my delimma is that perhaps the queen I caught in the swarm I describe above is a virgin. I don't want to sell him a lemon. I hung the trap with the bees in it, in my main beeyard, next to 11 other hives. This swarm had no drones that I could see, but my beeyard obviously has drones.

Question:What would ya'll do in this scenario? I am not sure but have some ideas. Its been 2 days since I brought them over and was going to check on them today. What are the chances that she will get mated and in what time frame? Should I wait a certain amount of time before I part with this swarm and how long? M.B. this question is right up your alley, I am at your beck & call, any opinions and advice are welcome, thanks, Jp.

rdy-b · « **Reply #2 on:** July 22, 2007, 05:34:48 pm »

If you are going to roll the dice and use the swarm for the birthday gift perhaps you should let them have it with no charge. perhaps some consideration for any wooden ware would be in order.your reputation as a beekeeper is something you want to maintain at the highest level. If you want why not set them up with a turn key colony sounds like you have many.they will probably need every advantage they can get to succeed and you dont want them to get discouraged. remember you are not only a beekeeper you are a bee ambassador 8-) what kind of trap are you using i hope it is a nuc box with drawn comb in it. If not it would be interesting to see what they have drawn out or if they even stay put. a virgin queen like a mated queen needs to fell as if they have a home to start any process wether egg laying or mating (mating for the queen is not something that is done along the way from hear to there she needs a home to start with :) RDY-B

JP · « **Reply #3 on:** July 22, 2007, 07:15:10 pm »

The swarm trap I used is the 3gallon egg carton type from Dadant. It has ridges in the top, like lil starter strips, its a great design, bees seem to love them, and readily build comb in them. I usually add a pheremone vial to the set up & this one was no exception. I also, as I mentioned above, added a section of brood comb with sealed brood, some emerging brood to the set up.

I agree with your thinking. That is why I am concerned, I don't want them to get a lemon. I was just looking to recoup some gas money, cause he lives an hr away and would meet him half way, and the price of the trap.

Also, I expressed my situation to him, and also gave him the phone numbers of two apiaries that are the closest to him, in case I couldn't help him with this one. Most of my hives are feral colonies and I worked very hard to come by them, and am not at the point where I want to part with any of them, unless its a swarm.

Thnx for your input Rdy-b.

JP · « **Reply #4 on:** July 23, 2007, 01:31:52 am »

Well, I checked the trap this evening and decided I would put them in a deep and feed them, but... They were not in the trap. I assume they left because we are in a dearth, and without any available nectar, they moved on to find a source, somewhere. I wish them luck.

Also, the guy I was going to sell them to called one of the breeders I recommended and he's picking up a package this week, kinda late but they are eager to get the Dad started. I mentioned that he will have to feed and feed them, and hope for a fall flow. Its getting late in the season. Before you know it, summer will be gone.

Cindi · « **Reply #5 on:** July 23, 2007, 10:42:28 am »

JP, awe, too bad the swarm took off. They should have stuck around, they would have probably have fared better with you feeding them. Sometimes they just don't get it :roll: Have a wonderful day, best of this life. Cindi

rdy-b · « **Reply #6 on:** July 23, 2007, 10:32:25 pm »

did you leave the trap in place so a bigger better one will come by and take up residents ;) plenty of fish in the sea :) RDY-B

JP · « **Reply #7 on:** July 24, 2007, 01:11:07 am »

I used the trap to catch the remaining bees in a tree that was cut down today. It was a maple tree that was hollowed out by termites. Didn't measure it but my guess is the hive was 12' long. The tree was about as round as a basket ball. The bees were very docile. I expected them to be somewhat aggressive considering that they have been in the tree for a while. I cut the area the hive was in in four, and stuffed rags in the cavities so the bees wouldn't escape. I loaded the tree trunks on my tailgate and drove them to the beeyard and set them next to each other. I will keep them in the tree until next spring and then do a transfer. There were a lot of bees. I have pictures of them on my tailgate and will ask Dane if he wouldn't mind posting them for me after I e-mail them.

Cindi · « **Reply #8 on:** July 26, 2007, 10:52:23 am »

JP, can't wait for the pics that you are going to get Dane to post for ya. Have a wonderful day, beautiful life. Cindi

JP · « **Reply #9 on:** July 26, 2007, 05:59:04 pm »

Hey guys finally figured the picture loading, I am officially a lil less computer iliterate. Can't wait to share more pics. So far I have two albums created, hope you all enjoy the pics! They can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/pyxicephalus

pdmattox · « **Reply #10 on:** July 26, 2007, 07:02:36 pm »

nice pics here are some of my favorites....
lawn mower hive.

JP · « **Reply #11 on:** July 26, 2007, 07:04:43 pm »

Glad you liked them Dallas, more to come.

mgmoore7 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 26, 2007, 11:00:28 pm »

Great pics

rdy-b · « **Reply #13 on:** July 26, 2007, 11:07:17 pm »

Right on JP :) say what is that spray rig for RDY-B

rdy-b · « **Reply #14 on:** July 26, 2007, 11:14:36 pm »

And congratulations on the promotion :) field bee status that is RDY-B

JP · « **Reply #15 on:** July 27, 2007, 12:33:08 am »

Rdy-b, I am an exterminator by trade, but I mostly use this rig to water my plants at our property in Mississippi. I add miracle grow and can take the tank out and put it on my trailer which I pull around with my golfcart, the rig is electric, battery operated. I rarely use it for anything else, but on occasion, I do some termite work with it.

rdy-b · « **Reply #16 on:** July 27, 2007, 12:55:15 am »

I know a guy that only dose bees and yellow jackets he makes nothing but money. he has a swarm hotline and gives beekeepers all doable swarms and he gets all the other here in the Bay area(cali) there is more calls and more money than qualified persons that would handle bees. his plate is always full.I tip my hat to you for doing live removals ;) RDY-B

JP · « **Reply #17 on:** July 27, 2007, 01:22:10 am »

Because I am an exterminator, I get calls as you would expect from people who have been trying to kill bees and it didn't work because they don't understand that the hive is in a void and is protected from their spray. I have evolved as an exterminator, into someone who really is quite crazy about bees. There are lots of hives in my area that can be removed live. Just because I am an exterminator, doesn't mean I have to kill everything I see. The way I look at it is this, I am in a service oriented field. I get my satisfaction out of helping people solve a problem. It just so happens that their problems are insect related. By the way, in the yellow pages here, I have a few listings. One says "we like bees". People love that one. Had a lady a couple of weeks ago call me and kept saying over and over, we hate bees, we hate bees, because they were in her fish tank, but that's another story.

rdy-b · « **Reply #18 on:** July 28, 2007, 01:42:06 am »

yep like i said you are a bee ambassador 8-) keep up the good work ;) RDY-B

rdy-b · « **Reply #19 on:** July 28, 2007, 02:07:08 am »

wild gues are you a jack or a james :lol: RDY-B

Barngodess · « **Reply #20 on:** July 28, 2007, 08:30:47 am »

What cool pics ! I love the ones of the bees drinking out of your bird bath. We have a spring that runs through our property that they probably drink from, and I'd never be able to get pics of that.

Melissa
;)

Cindi · « **Reply #21 on:** July 28, 2007, 11:36:32 am »

JP, you have spent quite a bit of time putting these pictures together for us. Thanks, they were intriguing.

It is funny, unless one really gets to know the bees, I think the majority of people don't even realize what the bee comb looks like when it is not inside a hive box. It looks pretty weird I would say. Until I joined this forum last fall, I had no clue what wild comb looked like, only the comb built on foundation, it is certainly not even close to what us humans would like the bees to do :roll: Have a wonderful day, Cindi

Dane Bramage · « **Reply #22 on:** July 28, 2007, 01:04:47 pm »

Quote from: JP on July 26, 2007, 05:59:04 pm

Hey guys finally figured the picture loading, I am officially a lil less computer iliterate. Can't wait to share more pics. So far I have two albums created, hope you all enjoy the pics! They can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/pyxicephalus

Awesome gallery JP! Seems the bees do well down there! (hot & humid eh?) Try to keep them out of the beignets for me!! ;)

JP · « **Reply #23 on:** July 28, 2007, 05:28:54 pm »

I am very happy everyone is enjoying the pictures, I have more I will share. Its great when you tell a story, even neater when you have pictures to paint a literal picture.

Rdy-b, my first name is Jeff, my Dad's name is James, he is a jr.

Cindi · « **Reply #24 on:** July 30, 2007, 10:55:36 am »

Melissa, I keep forgetting to ask you. Is that dog in your avitar a Wiemerammer? (spelling). We have two of these dogs here, but one is light grey, the other is dark. They look similar in appearance to your avitar's picture, but yours appears brown. What breed is this pooch? I love dogs. Have a wonderful day girl, Cindi